LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



"I 




1 



Ti 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




-2 <r, //w. 




THE 



UNIVERSALIST'S ASSISTANT; 



OR 



AN EXAMINATION 



OF 



THE PRINCIPAL OBJECTIONS COMMONLY URGED AGAINST 
UNIVERSALISM. 



He that is first in his own cause seemeth just ; 

But his neighbor cometh and searcheth him.— Prov. 



BY A BE LIE V^R 



BOSTON: 

ABEL TOMPKINS, 3 8, 

AND 

B. B. MUSSEY, 29 Cornhill 
1846. 






X 



ftfT 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1846, by 

DARIUS FORBES, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 



I)bh 



Stereotyped by 
GEORGE A. CURTIS; 

NEW ENGLAND TYPE AND STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY, 
BOSTON. 



THIS VOLUME 

IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED TO 

REV. HOSEA BALLOU, 2d, D.D. 

AND TO 

REV. EDWIN H. CHAPIN, A.M., 

As a token of the respect and esteem the Author cherishes 
for these men — the one as a diligent and persevering Theo- 
logical Student, and the other as a General Scholar and an 
Eloquent Preacher — whose labors and influence have done 
so much to secure the attention and respect of other sects 
to the Universalist Denomination in the United States ; and 
to encourage a manly independence in its ministry in form- 
ing and expressing their opinions ; and to promote Theo- 
logical Science among its members, and elevate the tone 
and spirit of its pulpit ; and as personal friends, and Chris- 
tian men, and lovers of truth and righteousness. 



" It is not an unusual occurrence, when any new view 
of a theological or scriptural subject is broached, to array 
against it a host of objections, and to insist upon the 
formidable difficulties with which it is encumbered, as if 
the old view were free from all exceptions, and stood 
forth in self-evident truth ; while, in fact, it was the diffi- 
culties attendant upon popular belief, which gave rise to 

the innovation." 

Bush. 



PKEFACE 



This volume is rather unique in its character ; and the author 
feels great diffidence in presenting it to the public. But it has 
long seemed to him that something of the kind was needed. 
Tracts have been and now are circulated all through the com- 
munity, presenting an array of objections against Universalism, 
while there has been no one book, which could be placed in the 
hands of those whose minds are attempted to be influenced by 
these little books, in which, their objections are answered in 
detail. Answers to very many of them are scattered through the 
various newspapers and books that have been published by the 
believers of this doctrine ; but they are not available to the great 
mass of readers. 

Were any apology needed for the peculiar character of this 
work, or the form in which its materials are presented, it would 
be the manifest advantages secured by it. In arranging the 
matter in the form of answers to objections, an opportunity is 
afforded to embrace a much wider range of topics in the same 
space, and make the materials directly available where wanted, 
to an extent which could not be secured by a formal treatise upon 
the several subjects which come under review. This form, 
therefore, seems better adapted to answer the great end for 
which it is designed, than any other that presented itself to the 
author's mind. 

The author's attention was first called to the want of some 
book of this kind, about ten years since, by the circulation of 
great numbers of tracts, devoted to the exhibition of objections 
against Universalism, among the members of his congregation. 
At the request of some of his hearers, he prepared a series of dis- 
1^= 



VI PREFACE. 

courses, embracing the topics now included in the second chapter 
of this work. Since that time, he has directed a very consider- 
able portion of his studies to the topics therein embraced, and 
the investigation of collateral subjects, enlarging his range of 
inquiry to all the matters embraced in this volume. And 
believing that the results of these inquiries and investigations 
may be of some service to the cause of religious truth, and with 
the advice of some friends, in whose judgment be has great 
confidence, he has concluded to present them to the public. 

In the execution of his work, the author has aimed to present 
the several topics discussed, in as condensed and popular a 
manner as possible ; to come direct to the subject in hand, with- 
out amplifying the arguments, or introducing illustrations, except 
in a few cases ; trusting to the good sense of the reader to 
supply these, and his judgment and perception to get at the 
meaning, without their aid, from a plain and unequivocal state- 
ment of facts, and the use of the most simple and unambiguous 
language. 

All reflections upon the want of candor and fairness on the 
part of the authors, whose works have furnished the objections 
noticed, have been avoided, although abundant occasion has 
been presented for comments of this kind. In numerous 
instances, the conviction has been most painfully forced upon 
the author's mind, that most of them were sadly wanting in 
honesty and integrity, in many of their statements, as well as in 
candor and fairness in argument. It seems as if very many 
things were said in a spirit of the most reckless malice, and with 
an entire destitution of all feeling of accountability for what 
they were writing. But all this has been passed over in silence, 
because thoughts and reflections of this kind, especially in rela- 
tion to men claiming to write for the good of human souls, are 
extremely unpleasant and painful to an honest, ingenuous, and 
fair mind ; and it is no gratification to it, to comment upon 
them. Beside, reflections upon the characters and doings of 
opponents, afford no good or satisfactory answer to the arguments 
they may adduce. These stand or fall upon their own merits. 
It has been the single object, therefore, to meet the objections 



PREFACE. Vll 

urged, in the spirit of candor and fairness ; with how much suc- 
cess, others must judge. 

The most difficult part of this work, in execution, has been 
the discussion of the several Hebrew and Greek words, which 
have been urged as objections against Universalism. It has 
been the aim to present the matter in such a way as to be intelli- 
gible to the mere English reader, and in so popular a form, 
that he can perceive somewhat of the state of things, in relation 
to these words, as it is exhibited to the minds of scholars. To 
gain this end, the text has been kept as free from these terms as 
possible, and some unusual expedients adopted ; while notes 
have been pretty freely introduced, to put scholars upon the 
track which has led to the conclusions stated in the text. In 
this way, it is hoped, the book may be rendered of some service, 
in this department, to both classes of readers. 

In the department of this work to which allusion is now had, 
it is not expected, that anything particularly new, to those who 
have looked into the subject, has been presented. Still, it is 
believed that much is presented, which may be new to the great 
mass of readers, or if nothing new is presented, it is hoped, at 
least, that old and familiar things are presented in a new and 
more striking light. 

As will be seen from the quotations and references, all state- 
ments in relation to the usage of Greek words, and facts con- 
cerning them, from sources aside from the Scriptures themselves, 
have been derived from others. Reliance is placed entirely upon 
their accuracy and fidelity, as the author has not the means of 
verifying their statements, by an appeal to their authorities, if 
he has the requisite learning and ability. But such is the well 
established reputation of these authors, that there is no room to 
question either their accuracy or their fidelity. Still, in all cases, 
when in his power, the author has preferred to see with his own 
eyes, and thus know whereof he affirms. 

The first person singular has been adopted throughout this 
work, to avoid seeming to speak in behalf of others, or to refer 
responsibility for the sentiments and facts presented, to others 
beside the author. And he here wishes to say, that he claims 



Vlll PREFACE. 

to speak only for himself, not for any sect or body of men. He 
alone wishes to be held responsible for whatever is herein writ- 
ten, that the reader may deem untrue or in any degree excep- 
tionable. All that this book contains is the free expression of 
the free thoughts of one who desires and claims to belong to the 
community of free minds ; of diligent inquirers after truth, who 
would see with their own eyes, hear with their own ears, think 
with their own minds, and understand with their own under- 
standings ; of those who would follow truth meekly and rever- 
ently, but firrnly and resolutely, wherever it may lead ; and of 
those who scorn to be shut up within the narrow precincts of 
party or sect. And what is herein written, the reader is desired 
to regard as the utterance of such a mind. 

With the sincere hope and the fervent prayer, that this little 
volume may contribute something to the extension of a liberal 
and enlarged theology ; to more just and rational views of the 
divine character and government ; to higher conceptions of human 
accountability and the great aims and offices of religion ; to a 
more profound sense of the necessity of labor and effort, on the 
part of every individual, to secure the great ends proposed by 
religion ; to the more thorough persuasion of all minds, that they 
are the makers of their own heaven or hell, and of the indispen- 
sable necessity of faith and repentance, as the means of salvation ; 
it is submitted to the candid consideration of the public, and 
especially that portion of it, which embraces the idea of the 
absolute eternity of human punishment, at the hand of God. 

Boston, April, 1846. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 



INTRODUCTION, 



Importance of religion — sources of information concerning it — need to 
be interpreted — exercise of the rational powers, the only safeguard against 
guilty error— Universalism not a negation, but an affirmation— its trans- 
cendent beauty — the one thing needful in certain cases. 



CHAPTER II. 

MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 

Page. 

Section I. The Safe Side, 30 

Belief alone, not an infallible surety of salvation — not a subject of pru- 
dential considerations — the belief of Universalism as safe as any other 
ism — men approved or condemned according to their characters — pru- 
dence demands the belief of Universalism. 

Section II. The Safest Side, 43 

Importance of belief—endless misery tends to form a character unlike 
that demanded by Christianity — Universalism favorable to the formation 
of Christian character — unsafe to believe its opposite. 

Section III. Christ and his Apostles incompetent Teachers, . 53 
The Scriptures not designed to explain and enforce a system of dogmatic 
theology — all errors not corrected by Christ and his apostles — this objec- 
tion lies equally against Christianity and Protestantism — some of the 
most eminent Christians have been and are Universalists — persecution 
and wickedness have prevented the more general prevalence of this 
doctrine. 

Section IV. Why did the Preaching of Christ and his Apostles alarm 

the Fears and excite^the Enmity of Wicked Men ? 73 

Christ's and the Apostles' preaching alarmed men's fears, and awakened 

their enmity — proving Universalism will not produce this effect — all 

other isms in the same category — Universalist pulpit not limited to one 

idea — perverse sinners always offended at rebukes. 



X CONTENTS. 

Page. 
Section V. Universalism inconsistent with the Character of God 

as a Rewarder. . . . . .80 

Punishment means, not ends — probation— present conduct and future 
Condition intimately connected. 

Section VI. Universalism inconsistent with God's Mercy, . 85 

Universalism and the Bible err in the same direction — nothing unmer- 
ciful in rewarding men according to their works. 

Section VII. God treats the Righteous worse than the Wicked, . 88 
Founded upon the idea that all men enter upon a state of felicity imme- 
diately after death — a blessing to be killed if immediately happy. 

Section VIII. There is no such thing as Forgiveness, . . 92 

Punishment not merely vindictive or vindicatory — punishment prospec- 
tive and consistent with forgiveness. 

Section IX. The Necessity of Repentance, .... 96 
Number saved does not affect the necessity of the use of means — the 
relation of cause and effect not denied by Universalists — religion important 
if no connexion exists between the present and the future — this connexion 
defined. 

Section X. Universalism not needed by the true Christian, . 101 

The unconcern of the wicked and worldly — Universalism dares not 
promise impunity to the most horrid and polluted of our race — endless 
misery tortures the purest and best only, in this world. 

Section XL Universalism pleasing to the carnal heart, . . 106 

The natural heart pure — Universalism not pleasing to the carnal heart, 
but offensive — at war with all wickedness. 

Section XII. A Universalis! Meeting in a new place, . . 109 

Character of Universalist congregations — where known only as repre- 
sented by enemies, professed by all the vilest of society — enemies 
responsible for it. 

CHAPTER III. 

THE ORIGINAL WORDS RENDERED EVERLASTING, ETERNAL, 
ETC., CONSIDERED AS AN OBJECTION TO UNIVERSALISM. 

Section I. Preliminary Remarks, . . . . .115 

Subject involves much learned inquiry — relates to the original Scriptures 
— translations the mere judgment of fallible men as to the meaning of the 
original. 

Section II. Admissions of those opposed to Universalism, . 1 18 

Aion and aidnios sometimes used in a limited sense — fatal to the position 
that they mean of necessity absolute eternity. 

Section III. The Arguments by which it is attempted to fix upon the 
terms aion and aidnios the sense of Endless Duration, 
considered. . . . . .121 



CONTENTS. XI 

Page. 
Formation of the word aioti — usage among the Jews — perpetuity of 
happiness and misery depends upon' the permanency of character— dura- 
tion of each individual's happiness and misery contingent— usage against 
the sense of absolute eternity. 

Section IV. Additional Considerations to show the terms aibn and 

aionios do not mean " absolute eternity," . . 136 

Statements of Lexicons— Classical usage— Scripture usage— usage by 
the Christian Fathers. 

Section V. Conclusion, ....... 151 

Used in a variety of senses — means an indefinite duration— spiritual — 
other words more decisive might have been used — misery will endure as 
long as men are bad. 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE HEBREW WORD SHEOL, COMMONLY RENDERED GRAVE 

AND HELL, CONSIDERED AS AN OBJECTION TO UNI- 

VERSALSM. 

Section I. Preliminary Remarks, ..... 160 
Ground of controversy changed— difficulties arising out of this change 
in managing a discussion. 

Section II. Admissions of the Learned, .... 162 
Change in the tone of remark by those opposed to Universalism — may 
mean a world of woe — hazardous to affirm more. 

Section m. An Exhibition of the Usage of Sheol, . . . 164 

Means the under-world, or state of the dead in general — inhabitants 
and their employments — men sent to Hades as a punishment. 

CHAPTER V. 

THE GREEK WORD HADES, COMMONLY RENDERED HELL 

IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, CONSIDERED AS AN 

OBJECTION TO UNIVERSALISM. 

Section I. Preliminary Remarks, ..... 171 
Change in the meaning of the term hades and hell — to be annihilated. 

Section II. Classical and Jewish Usage of Hades, . . .173 

^ Race of departed spirits — dark, unsubstantial and shadowy — having 
rivers and gates — inhabitants unsubstantial forms — employments the ideal 
of those here — division into Elysium and Tartarus — place of purgation — 
Jewish views substantially the same as those of the Greeks and Romans 



XII CONTENTS. 

Page. 
Section EL New Testament Usage of the term Hades, . . 183 

Jewish sense of the term Hades — the New Testament sense of this 
term. 

Section IV. Exposition of Luke 16 : 23 186 

A parable — designed to rebuke some of the notions and the perverse 
obstinacy of the Jews— represents two individuals, first in this and then 
in the future state — an argumentum ad hominem — impassable gulf be- 
tween the good and bad in this world. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE GREEK WORD TARTARUS, RENDERED HELL IN OUR 
COMMON VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, CONSID- 
ERED AS AN OBJECTION TO UNIVERSALISM. 194 

Description of Tartarus — not used in the heathen sense by the apostle 
—used in the sense of sheol. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE HEBREW-GREEK WORD GEHENNA, ALWAYS RENDERED 

HELL IN THE COMMON VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, 

CONSIDERED AS AN OBJECTION TO UNIVERSALISM. 

Section I. Preliminary Observations. .... 200 

Not used as the name of a place of endless punishment in Christ's 
time — not found in the Apocrypha — at variance with collateral ideas. 

Section II. The Derivation of Gehenna, .... 208 
Name of a valley— used as a figure of punishment in general, with- 
out reference to time when or place where it is to be inflicted. 

Section III. New Testament usage of the term Gehenna, . . 213 

Expositions affirmative— Matt. 5 : 22 and 29, 30 ; 10 : 28 ; 18 : 8, 9 j 
Mark 9 : 43—48 ; Matt. 23: 15, 33; James 3 : 6. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

GENERAL CONCLUSION. 230 



UNIVERSALIS^ ASSISTANT. 



CHAPTER 1. 

INTRODUCTION. 



Religion, in its relation to man, as a moral and 
accountable being, who is, at the same time, mortal 
and immortal, destined to live on forever, as a 
spiritual existence, is emphatically the subject of 
subjects. There is nothing that so nearly concerns 
his highest and best interests as this. It is so, 
because it is what relates to that part of his being 
which is immortal, and which must be affected, for 
weal or for woe, as it is regarded or disregarded, 
not only during his fleeting physical existence, but 
on his entrance at least, upon the verities of the 
spiritual world. As is the character he forms 
under its influence, during his present mode of 
existence, such must be his character and condition 
when the soul is ushered into the unseen realities 
of the world of spirits. This position few well- 
informed and reflecting minds will question, 
2 



14 universalist's assistant. 

The kind of character we form, and that we may 
think necessary to secure our highest good, must 
depend very much upon the theological ideas we 
cherish. In other words, what we are as men, in 
our dispositions, feelings, principles and habits — all 
that goes to make up the character — bears a nearer 
relation to what we believe, theologically, than many 
seem to imagine. Indeed, it is very much to be 
doubted, whether any man's character will be any 
more refined and exalted than his theological views. 
The whole history of man, as an intellectual and 
moral being, goes to establish this position.^ 

Eeligion then, coming and claiming to present 
truths of such infinite and eternal moment to us, 
and calculated so deeply to affect our characters, 
and destiny, as moral and accountable beings, does 
it not demand, and ought it not to receive our most 
profound and earnest attention ? Many of its teach- 
ings relate to the world beyond the darkness and 
silence of the grave, of which we can know nothing, 
in the common acceptation of this term, in this 
mortal state. All we can learn concerning that 
state is from revelation alone. We may speculate 
and conjecture about it; but no voice from the 
home of the dead, comes to tell us what it is, what 
their mode of existence, or what their employment 

* Universalist Quarterly, Vol. 1, Art. xxiv., p. 256. Bib- 
lical Repository, Vol. 9, New Series, Art. 1 for April, 1843, 
p. 253. 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

and their condition. All the light that is shed upon 
its impenetrable darkness, comes from the great 
facts of our being, and the revelations God has seen 
fit to make in the volume of inspiration. 

Now both these sources of information need to be 
interpreted. They address our reason, and with 
this for a guide, we are to search for the truths they 
would communicate. And no other means are 
offered for our protection against error, in reference 
to this matter, than in relation to all other subjects 
presented for human belief. Our only protection 
against error, which involves guilt, is diligence and 
faithfulness in examination, an unprejudiced and 
candid spirit in weighing testimony, and sincere 
and fervent desires to know and receive the truth, 
whatever it may be. If, with such a spirit, we fall 
into any error, it will not bring guilt upon our souls, 
nor will God condemn us for it. But if such is not 
our course, the spirit and temper of our minds, and 
our desires, we shall bring guilt upon our own 
souls, if we fall into error, and subject ourselves to 
the rebukes of the Most High. And even if we 
escape all error and attain all truth, it will secure 
no reward, because it will result from circumstances, 
not from our own endeavors after it.^ 



* "^hewell's Elements of Morality, Vol. 1, pp. 243, § 336 
and 327, § 455. Vol. 2, p. 113, eh. xiii. Harpers' Ed., 1845, 
2 Vols. 16mo. "Undoubtedly the reception of a system, 
so pure in spirit and tendency as the gospel, is to be regarded 



16 universalist's assistant. 

If such be the state of the case, how important it 
is, that we diligently and earnestly inquire after 
the truth, and give all that claims to come from 
God, a candid and fair examination, however widely 
it may differ with our present views ! We may 
not innocently sit down and give ourselves up 
to inaction, as intellectual beings, in reference to 
religion, under the vain and presumptuous notion, 
that we have attained all truth, without any admix- 
ture of error. The idea of our own infallibility or 
that of our sect, is no less preposterous and absurd, 
than the claim for the infallibility of the Pope, or 
any other saint of the Romish calendar. 

What imperfect creatures we are ! How little 
do we know, much as we may boast of our intelli- 
gence ! With all the distinguishing powers God 
has conferred upon us, how little can we see ! 
How liable we are to be mistaken, even about the 
most ordinary affairs of life ! How constantly are 
we committing mistakes and falling into errors, 
even upon the most plain, simple and obvious mat- 
ters that fall under our observations ! When we 



in general, as a favorable sign. But let a man adopt this 
religion, because it will serve his interest and popularity ; 
let him shut his mind against objections to it, lest they 
should shake his faith in a gainful system ; let him tamper 
with his intellect, and for base and selfish ends, exhaust its 
strength in defence of the prevalent faith, and he is just as 
criminal in believing, as another would be in rejecting Chris- 
tianity under the same bad impulses." Channing's Works, 
Vol. 3, p. 320; Boston, 1841. 



INTRODUCTION. 17 

go forth upon the earth, the very grass, earth and 
stones, which we tread under our feet, are covered 
with the thick veil of mystery ! Whence came this 
grass, this earth, and these stones ? How does this 
grass grow ? Why is one kind of grass produced 
upon any given spot, rather than another ? Why 
is it green, rather than red, black or some other 
color? Why is the ground, in any given place, 
composed of gravel or sand, rather than argile, 
alluvium, or some other kinds of earths ? And 
these stones, of what are they composed ? What has 
given them their peculiar forms and appearances ? 
How many can answer such inquiries as these ? 
And yet the answers to most of them, are clearly 
within the range of our powers. 

We are endowed with our five senses, to guide 
us in our connexion with the material world ; and 
yet, perfect as these are, the utmost wariness and 
caution, and continual effort is requisite to prevent 
us from committing mistakes. But with a full 
knowledge of all this, hardly a day passes but it is 
the witness of our betrayment into some error, 
much, perhaps, to our mortification, if not to our 
injury. With reason and experience to guide us in 
business, how many errors we commit in our cal- 
culations and plans ! Nor is the loftiest genius and 
the largest experience sufficient, to protect men 
against this liability. 

If we are so much exposed to errors and mis- 
2* 



18 universalist's assistant. 

takes, from the imperfections of our nature, in 
relation to things of every-day life and of the out- 
ward and material world, and so limited in our 
knowledge of those things, subject to the examina- 
tion of the senses, can we regard ourselves as 
having attained all truth, and as exempt from all 
liability to errors and mistakes, in reference to that 
greatest, grandest, highest, and most sublime of all 
subjects, religion — that subject which deals with the 
mysteries of the soul, and the world to come ? And 
should not this very danger lead us to exercise 
modesty, humility and fear, in deciding upon the 
claims of our brother's peculiarities of faith, to con- 
sideration? Should it not lead us to pause, con- 
sider and examine, with the utmost fairness and 
candor, the opinions of others, before we venture to 
assume we are certainly right, or censure and con- 
demn them, as in grievous and hurtful error ? 
This, surely, is one of the most plain and obvious 
inferences from these facts. 

With these views of the importance of attaining 
religious truth, to the formation of a right char- 
acter, and of our liability to error, I cannot but 
regard it as perilous business, for any one to shut 
up his mind against all new light upon the sub- 
ject of religion ; to stifle all inquiry ; to smother 
every doubt about present views, as profane ; or to 
treat what is claimed from any respectable source, 
as truth from heaven, with neglect and contempt, 



INTRODUCTION. 19 

before a thorough and candid examination of these 
claims has been made. In such a course we shall not 
be held guiltless by our Maker. It was this spirit 
which led the Jews to reject Jesus. Let us beware 
of its indulgence, lest we are found fighting against 
God, and are involved in a like condemnation. 

Is it with these views, and for the purpose of 
aiding my fellow-Christians in their inquiries after 
truth, that this work is entered upon. Before enter- 
ing upon it, a few explanations are necessary, that 
the author and his readers may have a fair under- 
standing of each other's meaning and intentions. 

The terms Universalists and Universalism are 
placed in the title-page, and will frequently occur 
in this work. Different senses are attached to 
these words, at the present time, in the religious 
world, even when applied to the denomination of 
Christians which bear that name, and used to 
describe their views. Hence it seems necessary 
that an explanation of what is intended by these 
terms, be made. What is Universalism? Who 
are Universalists? 

I reply, Universalism is a doctrine, not a system 
of doctrines. I say it is not a system of doctrines, 
because many of those who are known by this 
name, hardly hold any two doctrines in common, 
except such as are held in common by all who 
claim to be Christians. They agree in but one 
doctrine as distinctive and peculiar to themselves, 



20 universalist's assistant. 

and upon which the name is founded. Let a system 
of doctrines be adopted, and the attempt be made to 
enforce it as Universalism, and those who now live 
together in harmony and good fellowship, would be 
alienated from each other, and the denomination 
torn into fragments. What, then, is this peculiar, 
distinctive and characteristic doctrine ? 

I answer negatively, that it is not the belief, that 
all the consequences of human conduct are confined 
to the present mode of being, as is sometimes 
represented. Such a restriction of the meaning of 
the term, would convey the idea to the world, that 
the distinguishing faith of the denomination of 
Universalists, is the belief of a mere negation — that 
all the consequences of men's habits of thought, 
feeling and action, are confined to the state this 
side of the grave. But this is not, neither was it 
ever a fact. There never has been a time since the 
denomination had an existence, when more or less 
of the members, both clergy and laity, were not 
believers in the doctrine of future punishment, or 
that present conduct would affect the future condi- 
tion of man. How false, then, is such a definition ! 

But such a representation is not only false in 
fact, but wickedly unjust. If thus restricted in its 
meaning, the term Universalism is despoiled of its 
distinctive character. It is no longer a proper 
name, pointing out a particular class of religionists, 
but becomes a common name, descriptive of a genus 



INTRODUCTION. 21 

under which are several species. Admit such a 
definition, and the Deist and Atheist, who deny the 
truth of revelation, that man exists at all after the 
dissolution of the body, contemn public worship, 
and scoff at and ridicule all the great truths of 
religion, are as much Universalists, as those are, 
who believe in the existence of God, the truth of 
divine revelation, and human accountability; in 
Jesus Christ, and own him as their Master and 
Saviour; in the importance of social and public 
worship to man's progress in piety and virtue ; and 
in the doctrine of human immortality, and that 
every human soul shall at last arrive at purity and 
bliss, and endeavor to live devoted and godly lives ! 
And why ? Simply because all alike believe, all 
the consequences of human action are confined to 
the present mode of existence, while there is as 
wide a difference in their positions, as there is 
between light and darkness — the one believing, that 
this is the case, because man will not exist after 
his mortal dissolution, and the other, because all 
men will be cleansed from all moral defilement. 
How unjust and false, then, is a definition which 
involves such consequences ! 

I remark then, affirmatively, that Universalism, 
instead of being a mere negation, is a positive 
affirmation. It is the simple doctrine of the final 
salvation of every human soul. It is not the mere 
denial of the doctrine of endless punishment, but 



22 universalist's assistant. 

the positive affirmation, that all men will ultimately 
attain to holiness, and consequently to happiness. 
And those who embrace this doctrine, however 
widely they may differ in regard to other points of 
belief, are Universalists, theoretically. 

Should I go more into detail, in denning what is 
meant by the term Universalism, by those who pro- 
fess it, I would say, that they mean by it, not that 
the whole human family shall be delivered, so much 
from outward and material flames ; not from the 
unimaginable terrors of a world of woe ; not from 
everlasting perdition ; but from what is more to be 
dreaded — from sin itself ; from the evil of their own 
minds, which is the cause of what men do and are 
to suffer, as moral beings. They mean by it deliv- 
erance from the control of wrong principles and hab- 
its ; a purifying of all souls from all that is base and 
vile, in thought, affection and principle ; a removal 
of all the guilt and contaminations of sin ; a pluck- 
ing of all souls from that hell of darkness and guilt, 
into which the soul of every wicked man is plunged ; 
that by being thus renovated, they are exalted to 
heaven. This is the fact in reference to both classes 
of Universalists. All the difference there is between 
them, in regard to this matter, is as to the manner 
of attaining this end. Those who believe the con- 
sequences of human action extend beyond the pres- 
ent state, suppose salvation to be attained in all 
cases, through each individual's own agency — the 



INTRODUCTION. 23 

voluntary exercise of his own powers, under God's 
blessing ; and in so far as it relates to the present 
life, those who believe all the consequences of men's 
conduct are confined to this mortal existence, fully 
concur in this view. But they do not suppose this 
principle applies to another state. They think, that 
at death, or between death and the resurrection, all 
the corruptions of every human soul will be purged 
out, by some mysterious agency, wholly indepen- 
dent of the individual's volitions and the exercise of 
his own powers.^ 

Such is Universalism as it is understood by its 
friends ; and although there seems to be a wide differ- 
ence, so far as practical tendencies and influences 
are concerned, between the views of the two classes, 
as to the manner of attaining this great end, they 
agree in maintaining, that holiness is indispensably 
necessary to happiness, in all worlds ; and it is on this 
ground, they are united together as one division 
of the church. They differ only in regard to the 
method by which this state of soul is attained, in the 



# This view is only the popular view universally applied. 
That is, it is the popular view relative to those termed the 
regenerate, extended to all men, and I cannot see, if the 
regenerate are to have their fern remaining corruptions at 
death, purged out by some means, independent of their own 
volitions, or the exercise of their own powers, why the more 
numerous sins of the unregenerate, may not be removed in the 
same way and upon the same principle. The one is cer- 
tainly as rational, and philosophical, and, indeed, scriptural 
as the other. 



24 universalist's assistant. 

world of spirits, which manifestly involves impor- 
tant consequences, in its bearings upon the present 
conduct of men, for if the condition of the human 
soul, upon its entrance into a future state, is not 
to be at all affected by the character formed in the 
present state, the motive to effort, in cultivating a 
character in conformity with God's law, is mani- 
festly much weaker, than under the view, that all 
holiness is to be attained, in all worlds, by the exer- 
cise of our own volitions and powers — that it is the 
result of action, not a thing mechanically to be con- 
ferred upon the human soul, by some outward or 
foreign agency. 

From what has been said, it appears, then, that 
Universalism is the single doctrine of universal sal- 
vation, flowing out of universal holiness, without 
reference to the manner or method by which holi- 
ness is attained. In other words, it is the restora- 
tion of the whole human race to goodness and vir- 
tue, and, as a consequence, to happiness. 

Against this doctrine, many objections have been 
urged, from various sources, and it is the design of 
this work to meet and answer these objections, for 
the purpose of removing the difficulties they present 
to many minds, in the way of embracing Univer- 
salism. This topic is selected, because no work 
exists at present, which covers thi3 ground, directly 
and specifically, that can be put into the hands of 
an inquirer, and the want of something of the kind 



INTRODUCTION. 25 

is often felt. For direct proof of the doctrine, the 
reader is referred mainly, to works already in exist- 
ence in abundance. 

In the discussion of the several topics that will 
claim the attention, it will be the object to give it as 
much of an affirmative character, as is consistent 
with a negative position. In meeting the several 
objections that will pass under review, it will be the 
effort to throw as much light upon the general sub- 
ject, as the extent of the work will admit. 

The point of doctrine involved in this discussion, 
I regard one of transcendant interest and importance, 
aside from the consideration of its being a religious 
matter. When we look out upon the world, and 
see the scene of darkness, confusion and misery 
that is presented to the mind's eye — the strife and 
contention, sorrow and despair, degradation and 
want, sin and misery ; the human race debased and 
enslaved by unholy desires, by vice and crime, by 
wars and fightings, by domestic and civil commo- 
tions, and all the turmoil and wretchedness there is 
in the world, Universalism, like an angel of light 
direct from heaven, comes and tells us, that all this 
distressing scene shall give place to one of glory 
and peace ! It tells us, that God has so arranged 
things, that a time shall come in his infinitely wise 
and beneficent counsels, when a scene of order and 
harmony shall succeed to this of confusion and strife, 
and man become the universal friend of man. It tells 
3 



26 universalist's assistant. 

us a time will come, under the divine government, 
when every degraded, enslaved and suffering one 
shall be relieved, elevated and brought into the glo- 
rious liberty of the sons of God ; when sin and 
crime shall cease, all evil passions be hushed to rest, 
and order, harmony and love shall not only prevail 
throughout the vast domain of the Creator, but in 
every human soul ; and that all this shall be brought 
about through the mediation of Jesus Christ, acting 
upon human volitions. 

When we look about us, and see how wide are 
the ravages of death — one after another of our neigh- 
bors and friends cut down on our right hand and on 
our left — leaving mourning husbands, widows, pa- 
rents, children, brothers, sisters and friends, whose 
tears would make a mighty river, Universalism 
gently whispers in our ears, " Weep not;" for hus- 
bands and wives, parents and children, brothers and 
sisters, neighbors and friends shall all meet again, 
where sickness and death, sorrow and crying shall 
be unknown. It tells man, that a time will surely 
come, when there will be no bereaved husbands, no 
widows, no childless mothers, no broken circles of 
domestic love or social affection ; but all husbands 
shall meet their lost wives, and all wives their lost 
husbands ; all parents their children, and all chil- 
dren their parents ; all brothers and sisters, neigh- 
bors and friends, each other, no more to be separated 
forever ! It tells him every wound shall be healed, 



INTRODUCTION. 27 

every lost one found, and not one of earth's unnum- 
bered millions shall be missing from the sun-light of 
God's countenance ! 

Is not this a bright and glorious prospect for our 
race ? Who that has the heart of a man, must not 
contemplate such a consummation as the result of 
Christ's mission, with delight ? What can be more 
grateful, than such a view, to a pure, benevolent and 
Christian mind and heart? Pause and meditate 
upon it a moment, A fallen world elevated to God ! 
A family of prodigals returned in penitence and 
tears, to a father's house ! A race of rebels brought 
back to their allegiance to the Infinite One ! The 
universe attuned in every pulsation, in harmony 
with its Creator, its soul ! What more grand and 
magnificent spectacle could be presented to the 
human mind ! It is all the largest and most philan- 
thropic heart can desire, and the most comprehen- 
sive and generous mind imagine. 

Let not the reader say, as many have said before, 
" It is too good to be true ! " Nothing is or can be 
too good for the Infinite Father to do. But let this 
very excellence of the view, commend the subject 
to your most devout and serious attention, and make 
you feel that it is preeminently entitled to a candid 
and fair investigation. This is all its believers ask 
for it ; and if others cannot see as they do in refer- 
ence to it, they can only lament their misfortune. 

Besides this, there are circumstances in which 



28 

men are often placed, when nothing but Universal- 
ism can meet the wants of the most pure, devout 
and pious minds and hearts. When called to 
part with children or friends upon whom our fond- 
est affections are placed, by death, who have gone 
away without that preparation we may deem ne- 
cessary for a world of bliss, upon entrance into the 
spirit-land, what can meet our wants, in the sad hour 
of separation, but a hope that there is yet room for 
them to return ; that the door of mercy is still open, 
and a Father's arms still extended to receive them, 
when they will turn toward him in penitence and 
faith ? This is what the heart desires above all 
things, in this extremity ; and the more pure and 
Christ-like it is, the more earnest these desires. 
But these desires cannot be answered, nor these 
wants met, except by Universalism. Is not this 
doctrine, then, worthy of the most profound attention 
of every human soul ? It surely is so ; for all are 
liable to be placed in these circumstances, and if we 
do not possess such a faith, we shall be left com- 
fortless. 

It will not do for us to try to comfort ourselves, 
in that hour, with saying, " God is just, and will do 
right with my child or my friends. " If such are our 
views of his character and his government, that we 
think he can consistently doom any soul to endless 
perdition, it will be a hopeless task to attempt to make 
our hearts feel, that such a fate is just, much less 



INTRODUCTION. 29 

I 

merciful for our children or friends. It can afford 
no comfort. 

May I not expect, then, a candid and serious 
examination of what is herein said, in defence of 
Universalism, by every one into whose hands this 
volume may fall ? This I demand of you as an 
accountable being, who must answer to God for 
your doings ; a regard for your own comfort, and 
your highest and best good, as a moral agent and a 
spiritual existence. 

3* 



30 



CHAPTER II. 

MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 

SECTION I. THE SAFE SIDE. 

" On the ground of prudence, I am constrained to reject 
that system. It is a maxim, the correctness of which you 
will readily admit, that in every question of duty and hap- 
piness, where one side is 'doubtful and the other safe, it is 
the part of wisdom to take the safe side. Act according to 
this maxim, and you cannot be a Universalist." # 

This objection has undoubtedly produced a tre- 
mendous effect upon a certain class of minds. It has 
unquestionably deterred many an honest and simple- 
hearted person, from all attempts at free religious 
inquiry. They are afraid if they venture to inquire, 
they may be led to adopt views other than they 
now hold, and these may prove false, and in con- 
sequence they may be eternally damned ; forgetting 
entirely that they may now be in error, and exposed 
in the same way. 

In reply to this objection, I remark, in general 
terms, that plausible as it may seem at first view, 
this objection is a most miserable and shallow 
sophism, as will be shown by several considerations. 

1. This objection is founded upon the idea, that 

* American Tract Society's Tracts, No. 224, p. 1. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 31 

the simple belief of a truth, is an infallible surety 
of salvation, without any reference to other circum- 
stances. But this is a position to which no Protes- 
tant will adhere. Even the most strenuous believer 
in the doctrine of endless punishment will admit, 
that an individual may most cordially and heartily 
receive that doctrine as the truth, and yet be 
eternally lost. Wherein, then, is the safety of 
believing this, more than its opposite ? 

2. I remark, that belief is not the subject of 
volition, or any prudential considerations, except in 
an indirect way. It is the result of evidence sup- 
posed or real. The only way in which belief can 
be effected by our volitions, is in reference to evi- 
dence and its consideration. Men may shut their 
eyes against the light, and so rush on in darkness ; 
or cultivate an uncandid spirit, and thus be blinded 
to the force of evidence, and in this way they may 
be governed, in their belief or unbelief, by their 
volitions, to a very great extent. But when a man 
has his eyes open and is possessed of a candid and 
serious spirit, his belief is controlled by the evidence 
presented to his mind He must believe according 
to the evidence he sees. Hence it will be seen, 
that the supposed safety in this case, lies not in the 
belief but in the avowal of one's convictions ; for it 
is the avowal only of a candid man's honest convic- 
tions, that is entirely subject to his volitions, or any 
prudential considerations whatever. So that the 



32 universalist's assistant. 

amount of the matter is this ; that it is safer to 'pro- 
fess a belief in the doctrine of eternal punishment, 
while we really believe it is false, than honestly 
profess a belief of the doctrine of universal salva- 
tion ! In other words, this objection is, in effect, 
maintaining that it is safer, under God's government, 
to be a hypocrite, than an honest man ! 

3. This objection involves consequences in an- 
other direction, which the objector himself will not 
admit. It is admitted on all hands, among Protes- 
tants, that a man may be saved if he is truly pious, 
whatever may be his religious belief. " But," says 
the Papist, " the whole Catholic Church, amounting 
to the larger part of the civilized world, hath ever 
held, and now holds, that no man who dies out of 
her communion, however deep and fervent his piety, 
can possibly be saved. Now admitting that the 
Catholic church may be wrong, no man has any- 
thing to fear from entering her ample bosom, and 
living piously there ; for Papist though he be, he 
will be saved ; but if she is right, the man who 
rejects her, loses everything beyond remedy. Hell 
is his everlasting portion." Does not prudence, 
then, demand that we should all become Papists, 
if the objection under consideration has any force ? 

From what has already been said, it will be seen 
that the reason of the thing shows, that it is just as 
safe to believe Universalism, as endless misery. I 
shall now show that it is so, from the Scripture 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 33 

representations of the matter. The argument from 
this source will be what logicians call the argumen- 
tum ad hominem, that is, an argument drawn from 
the admitted premises of an opponent. What I 
mean is, that I shall admit, for the sake of the 
argument, the objector's interpretations of the texts 
I shall quote, so far as their application is concerned, 
and then show, from these very texts, that the 
believer in endless misery is no more safe, if his 
own doctrine is true, than he who believes Univer- 
salism, so far as their eternal states are concerned. 

Those who believe the doctrine of endless misery, 
generally maintain, that there is to be a day of 
general judgment, when every man is to be tried, 
and acquitted or condemned, according to a certain 
rule, and that this decision fixes the condition of the 
soul for eternity. This belief is founded upon that 
class of texts, which speak of Christ's coming to 
judge the world, in the last day. Admit there is 
to be such a judgment, and that by its decisions 
man's destiny is fixed for eternity, and the question 
arises, — What is the ground upon which the deci- 
sion is made ? In other words, — For what is one 
class to be acquitted ; and, For what are the others 
to be condemned ? 

To satisfy our minds upon this point, it is only 
necessary' for us to examine the descriptions of 
what is supposed to be the great day of final 
account — the general and final judgment, found in 



34 universalist's assistant. 

the Scriptures. How do they represent the matter ? 
I will take the following passage as a distinguished 
example. 

" When the Son of man shall come in his glory, 
and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit 
upon the throne of his glory ; and before him shall 
be gathered all nations ; and he shall separate them 
one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep 
from the goats ; and he shall set the sheep on the 
right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall 
the king say unto them on his right hand, come ye 
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared 
for you from the foundation of the world. For I 
was an hungered, and ye gave me meat ; I was 
thirsty, and ye gave me drink ; I was a stranger, 
and ye took me in ; naked, and ye clothed me ; I 
was sick, and ye visited me ; I was in prison, and 
ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous 
answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an 
hungered, and fed thee ! or thirsty, and gave thee 
drink ! When saw we thee a stranger, and took 
thee in ! or naked, and clothed thee ! Or when 
saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee ! 
And the king shall answer and say unto them, 
Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done 
it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye 
have done it unto me." * 

From this it will be perceived, that these persons 

* Matt. 25 : 31—40. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 35 

were not approved, or pronounced righteous, merely 
because they believed one doctrine or another. 
Their belief is not named or called in question in 
any way. The king does not say, come unto me, 
ye blessed of my Father, because ye have believed 
the system of doctrines denominated evangelical or 
un evangelical. Nor did he pronounce them his 
friends and blessed, because they belonged to the 
Catholic, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Congregation- 
alism Baptist, Methodist, Unitarian, Universalist or 
any other church whatever. The entire proceeding 
in this case, was predicated upon what the individ- 
uals really were as men, in their doings. They 
were commended and received into favor, on ac- 
count of their acts of practical goodness — their acts 
of kindness and benevolence toward the suffering 
of their race, which was regarded and treated as if 
done to the Judge himself. 

I ask, then, is not the individual who sustains the 
character represented in this description of the judg- 
ment, perfectly safe, whatever may be his specula- 
tive belief even if this decision fixes his final and 
everlasting condition ? Is not the Universalist who 
sustains the character therein described, just as 
safe as the believer in endless misery ? It is even 
so ; for it is their works, their actual doings, the 
character they form, not their belief which secures 
the approbation of the Judge. Why, then, is it not 
just as safe for pious and good men to embrace 



36 universalist's assistant. 

Universalism, as any other ism, so far as their eter- 
nal interests are concerned ? I cannot see. 

Let us now see why those on the other hand 
were condemned. " Then shall he also say unto 
them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, 
into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his 
angels ; for I was an hungered, and ye gave me no 
meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink ; I 
was a stranger, and ye took me not in ; naked, and 
ye clothed me not ; sick and in prison, and ye vis- 
ited me not. Then shall they also answer him, 
saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or 
athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, 
and did not minister unto thee ? Then shall he 
answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, in- 
asmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of 
these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go 
away into everlasting punishment ; but the righte- 
ous into life eternal."^ 

Hence it will be seen, that these persons were 
condemned upon precisely the same principle, that 
the others were approved. They were not con- 
demned on account of their belief- — not because their 
belief was wrong — not because they believed too 
much or too little; but for their deeds; for neglect- 
ing or refusing to perform the common duties of 
life — the duties of kindness, benevolence and char- 
ity. The misfortunes, calamities and sufferings of 

* Matt 25: 41—46. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 37 

their kind, had not excited their commiseration, or 
moved them to acts calculated to afford relief to the 
suffering. In a word, they were condemned, be- 
cause they had been selfish, unfeeling, unpitying. 

There are one or two things in this description of 
the judgment, to which I wish to call the especial 
attention of the reader, although a digression from 
my main design. Their importance must be my 
apology. 

It will be observed, that one class is approved and 
blessed because they had done certain deeds, and 
the other condemned because they had not done 
them. Now these deeds are mentioned, merely to 
present to our minds, in a stronger light, the char- 
acters of these two classes of men. It was not so 
much for the deeds done by one class, that they 
were approved and blessed, and the deeds neglected 
to be done by the other, that they were condemned, 
as for the characters they sustained, of which the 
deeds done or neglected are the representatives. On 
no other supposition can we explain the circum- 
stance, that those who were condemned, are charged 
with no positive crimes, no malicious or positively 
wicked feelings, but simply with a neglect of duty, 
without any reference to the motives or feelings 
which dictated them. 

When a judgment is to be passed upon men's 
actions merely, the motives, feelings and principles 
which actuated the individual, are always to be taken 
4 



38 universalist's assistant. 

into the account ; but when a man's character is the 
subject of inquiry, not only his positive doings, but 
his neglects, are good evidence in the case, espe- 
cially his habitual neglects. Indeed, these are more 
sure and positive testimony as to what an individu- 
al's character is, than any individual acts of positive 
wrong would be ; for individual deeds of positive 
wickedness, might be the effect of powerful tempta- 
tion, or strongly excited passion, while there is no 
settled depravity of heart ; but habitual neglect of 
the common duties of life, such as are named in the 
Scripture just quoted, is the cool, deliberate and 
unprovoked work of an all-devouring selfishness, 
which cares not what becomes of the rest of the 
world, or how much it may suffer, if so be, that it 
is not disturbed in its enjoyments. Such neglects 
give the stamp of certainty to a man's character, as 
no acts of positive wrong could do ; for in such acts 
evidence is afforded, as to the feelings and princi- 
ples at the time of their perpetration only ; but such 
neglect fixes the seal of reprobation upon the indi- 
vidual, not merely for the moment, but upon his 
character. It demonstrates what he is uniformly 
and unvaryingly, as a man. 

Another thing that we should observe, in this 
account, is the kind of character so distinctly brought 
out, as the ground of man's acceptance or rejection 
with God. It is what is and ever has been too 
lightly esteemed by the most of Christians ; so little 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 39 

has it been valued, that some have even sneered at it, 
as mere human goodness, or natural amiability of 
character. It is that simple and unostentatious 
goodness of heart, which prompts men to spontane- 
ous acts of kindness and charity ; to seek to pro- 
mote the good and happiness and relieve the dis- 
tresses of those around them, without once thinking 
there is any peculiar merit therein. Hence, when 
those who were approved and blessed, were told why, 
they were surprised. They did not know, that 
they had done any such deeds. So with those who 
were condemned; they were equally ignorant of 
their neglect. Thus the truth is illustrated, that it 
is those acts about which men think the least, that 
are the truest index of the character, and which con- 
tribute the most to its formation. So also the fact 
is exhibited in a striking light, that what is done or 
neglected to be done to our fellow-men, is regarded 
and treated by the Almighty, as if done to himself. 
The same general character pervades and distin- 
guishes all the descriptions of the judgment, con- 
tained in the Scriptures. It nowhere proceeds on 
the ground of a man's belief; but always on his 
conduct, considered as the representative of his 
character. The inquiry is not, whether he is 
orthodox or heterodox ; but whether he is good. It 
is not asked how many have been his prayers and 
religious performances ; ^ but whether he is pos- 

* I would not be understood by this to imply, that prayers 



40 universalist's assistant. 

sessed of those pure principles, and that sympathy 
with his kind which lead him to spontaneous acts of 
kindness and benevolence. 

As a further confirmation of this position, the fol- 
lowing texts are adduced. " For the Son of man 
shall come in the glory of his Father, with his 
angels; and then shall he reward every man accord- 
ing to his works"* " Behold I come quickly; and 
my reward is with me, to give to every man accord- 
ing as his work shall be Blessed 

are they that do his commandments, that they may 
have a right to the tree of life, and may enter in 
through the gates into the city."t "Marvel not 
at this ; for the hour is coming in the which all 
that are in their graves, shall hear his voice, and 
shall come forth ; they that have done good, unto 
the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, 
unto the resurrection of damnation." % 

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus,^ may 
serve as a further illustration of my position. The 
rich man was not sent to hell to lift up his eyes in 
torment for his heresy, nor was Lazarus placed in 
Abraham's bosom on account of his orthodoxy. 

and religious observances are of no consequence, or that 
they may be neglected without peril. All I mean to say is, 
that they are of no value as ends. But as means, I regard 
them as of great importance. As such, they are indispensa- 
ble to the attainment of the highest Christian excellence. 

* Matt. 16 : 27. t Rev. 22 : 12, 14. 

% John 5 : 28, 29. § Luke 16 : 19—31. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 41 

The only thing brought against the rich man, was 
his want of a proper degree of attention to the 
wants and necessities of the poor and suffering at 
his gate. He was so entirely absorbed in securing 
his own selfish gratification, that he had no thoughts 
or attention to bestow upon the poor and suffering 
around him. His very dogs were more humane, 
and manifested a kindlier interest in the sufferings 
of his race, than their master. 

From what has been said, it is manifest, that 
admitting these texts refer to a final judgment, and 
the eternal condition of men in tKe world to come, 
their respective states and conditions do not depend 
upon what they have honestly believed or disbe- 
lieved; but entirely upon what they are — upon 
what they have done as an exponent of what is 
their characters. In order, then, to be safe, or on 
the safe side, what must we do ? Must we believe 
certain doctrines, subscribe to certain creeds, or join 
certain churches ? Not at all. In this judgment, 
sects and parties are unknown, as well as creeds 
and dogmas of belief. Doctrinal belief is never 
called in question. The only inquiry in regard to 
every individual is — " What have you done ? How 
have you lived ? Have you been ready to minister 
to the wants and necessities of the needy and suffer- 
ing, as your circumstances would permit ? In other 
words, have you an amiable and kind heart, a pure, 

benevolent and good character V' 

4# 



42 universalist's assistant. 

What, then, is the conclusion of the whole matter ? 
Plainly, that a Universalist with these qualifications, 
is precisely as safe as a believer in endless misery, 
admitting that doctrine true, and the latter without 
those characteristics, is as unsafe as the Universal- 
ist. There is no difference. Where, then, is the 
safe side or the two chances of the believer in the 
doctrine of endless punishment ? and where the 
danger of believing in Universalism, if these things 
are true ? The truth is, be the views of Universal- 
ists true or false, they are just as safe as those who 
reject these views, so far as their final and eternal 
state and condition is concerned, if they have as 
good hearts and as pure and unblemished characters, 
of which their habitual doings and neglects must be 
the witnesses. The one has not the slightest advan- 
tage over the other, in this respect. 

It is a common remark of the candid among 
those who do not believe Universalism, that a man 
who really believes this doctrine, must be one of the 
happiest men in the world. Now if this witness is 
true, and the Universalist who is an honest and 
true man — a man who fears God and works right- 
eousness, is as safe, so far as his final state is con- 
cerned, as those who reject his views, admitting 
the doctrine of endless misery true, has he not a 
decided advantage over the believers in the latter 
doctrine, so far, at least, as his present happiness is 
concerned? Instead, therefore, of common pru- 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 43 

dence requiring men to reject Universalism at once, 
does it not demand, that so far as relates to their 
present happiness, they should eschew the opposite ? 
Does it not demand, that men should endeavor to 
convince their minds, that Universalism is true, let 
the fact be as it may, rather than fear to receive it, 
or reject it without examination ? It surely is so. 



SECTION II. THE SAFEST SIDE. 

In the last section, it was my object to show, that 
even admitting the doctrine of endless suffering 
true, the Universalist is just as safe, other things 
being equal, as the believer of that doctrine. 

Let it not be inferred, from this, that belief is to 
be regarded as a matter of small importance. It is 
of the very highest importance ; for it is the founda- 
tion of all correct moral action ; it is what distin- 
guishes the Christian from the Infidel ; and it exerts 
a great and abiding influence upon men's feelings, 
dispositions, principles and conduct. The influence 
it exerts upon any individual's character, must 
depend upon the prominence it holds in his mind. 
If it absorbs all the powers and faculties of his 
soul, it will become a ruling principle within him, 
and his character will become an exact embody- 
ment of his inward faith. But however loosely a 



44 tjniversalist's assistant. 

man may hold his belief, it will exert some influ- 
ence in the formation of his character, either for 
good or for evil. I know, indeed, that few men 
who adopt a good faith, ever become so good as 
their faith is ; and equally true is it, that few men 
professing a bad faith, become as bad as their creed is. 
The good influences of society, and the redeeming 
qualities of human nature, hold them back, so that 
they are afraid or ashamed to do as bad as is the 
promptings of their unhallowed faith. But in spite 
of all internal and external influences, belief will do 
much in giving a determination to human character 
— vastly more than most persons imagine. A good 
faith contributes to the formation of a good char- 
acter ; and a bad faith will tend to form a bad char- 
acter, however its influence may be modified by 
public sentiment, and the individual's sense of pro- 
priety. Hence that belief must be the safest, which 
has the strongest and most powerful tendency to 
secure the formation of such a character, as the 
gospel demands ; and it is my purpose to show that 
Universalism is that belief. 

The Saviour has reduced the whole of human 
duty to two requirements, which are the original 
elements of all correct moral action. " Thou shalt 
love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with 
all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the 
first and great commandment. And the second is 
like unto it ; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy- 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 45 

self. On these two commandments hang all the 
law and the prophets."^ 

These are the principles from which must flow 
those good works, that secure the approbation of 
Heaven. And the man who is governed in all his 
ways by these principles, is perfectly safe, for time, 
and for eternity, be the doctrine of eternal punish- 
ment true or false. It can make no difference. 
Nor can it make any difference whether he believes 
or disbelieves it, if he really sustains such a char- 
acter. The only difference it can make with any 
person, is its favorable or unfavorable tendencies 
upon the character. Which of the two doctrines 
under consideration, has the greatest tendency to 
form the character required by the gospel ? 

In reply, I remark, that it is a law founded in the 
nature and constitution of things, that like shall 
produce like. It is a law that obtains in the moral 
as well as in the physical world. Love will beget 
love, and hatred will beget hatred. Hence the pos- 
session of such affections and principles as are 
demanded by the Saviour, must greatly depend upon 
the views that are entertained of the Divine charac- 
ter, as unfolded in the plans and purposes of God, 
and the nature of man. Hence it is necessary that 
we discover something lovely in an object or an 
individual, that our affections may be secured. 
That we may love God, we must see something in 

* Matt. 22: 37—39. 



46 universalist's assistant. 

his character, as manifested in his plans, purpo- 
ses and works, which renders him lovely. So 
in regard to man. We must be able to discover 
something in him, as the workmanship of God, 
that can claim our attachment, or we cannot love 
our neighbor. Consequently the doctrine that pre- 
sents the most that is lovely in the Divine character, 
and the most attractive views of human nature, 
must be the safest doctrine to be received by men, 
even admitting eternal consequences are attached 
to our doings. Which of the two doctrines under 
consideration does this ? 

Before we can return an answer to this question, 
it is necessary for us to take a view of the character 
which each ascribes to the Deity. I will take the 
doctrine of eternal punishment first, and will pre- 
sent the matter in the language of a believer of this 
terrible doctrine. " The God that holds you over 
the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or som e 
loathsome insect, over the fire, abhors you, and is 
dreadfully provoked ; his wrath towards you, burns 
like fire ; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing 
else, but to be cast into the fire ; he is of purer eyes 
than to bear to have you in his sight ; you are 
ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, 
than the most hateful and venomous serpent is in 



ours." ^ 



If he eternally hates you, he will act in his 
* Edwards' Works, Vol. 7 3 p. 496. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 47 

dealings with you, as one that hates you with mere 
hatred, without any love or pity. The proper 
tendency and aim of hatred is, the misery of the 
object hated ; misery and nothing else. So that 
you may expect God will make you miserable, and 
that you will not be spared ; for sparing is not the 
effect of hatred, but of pity and mercy, which is 
quite a different thing from enmity." ^ 

Such is the representation of the Divine character 
by the doctrine of endless misery, and is there any- 
thing in it that is lovely? Is it a representation 
calculated to excite our admiration, or call forth our 
affections ? Surely not. But on the other hand, it 
is revolting to the very last degree, in the view of 
every pure and good mind and heart. Men may 
fear to express it, or even confess the truth to their 
own minds ; but they can have no other feelings 
than those of dislike and abhorrence of such a 
character. Such views cannot excite reverence, 
gratitude and love in any soul, however it may 
paralyze it with terror. All the dark and appalling 
views of God's character, presented by this terrible 
doctrine, can do, is to petrify with terror, and fill 
men's minds with amazement, and their hearts 
with dread, to subdue the soul, fasten upon it the 
chains of slavery, and extort from the individual, a 
pretence, a profession of love, to escape impending 
vengeance, but it will be all pretence. The feeling 

* Edwards' Works, Vol. 7, p. 201. 



48 UNIVERSALISt's ASSISTANT. 

cannot be there. As well might they be called 
upon to love the hateful hyena, whose hideous jaws 
are besmeared with a brother's blood ? 

Beside this, if like begets like, what effect must 
the contemplation of such a character have upon 
the individual that worships it ? Must it not tend 
to form the same character in him ? Will it not 
lead to the cultivation of the same temper and dis- 
positions as are exhibited in his ideal of perfection, 
which is always embodied in the object of worship ? 
The history of the world shows that it is so.^ Let 
any man copy, in the temper of his mind and the 
feelings of his heart, the character ascribed to God, 
by the doctrine of endless misery, in the above 
extracts, and carry them out in his dealings and 
intercourse with mankind, so far as his capabilities 
and circumstances will permit, and would it be safe 
either for the individual or the community ? 

The religious world once undertook to copy the 
example of the Almighty, as he is represented by 
this doctrine, and it gave birth to the Inquisition, 
that most infernal of all the engines of mischief 
ever invented by man. And in so far as men have 
ever attempted to carry the principles and spirit of 
this doctrine into their intercourse with each other 
and the government of society, they have brought 
misery, degradation and ruin upon the world, and 
drenched the earth in blood. Is the belief of such 

* Universalist Quarterly, Vol. 1., p. 256. Art. 24. 



MICELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 49 

a doctrine safe ? It cannot be ; for if the evil, cruel 
and diabolical things that have grown out of its 
belief, and the attempts of men to carry its princi- 
ples into practice in human society, are subject to 
the same reprobation as other evil deeds, and the 
doctrine itself proves true, no men are more cer- 
tainly sealed victims of eternal torments, than vast 
multitudes of its most sincere believers and staunch 
defenders, and that, too, on account of endeavoring to 
practise in conformity with their faith ! What can 
be more unsafe, than the belief of such a doctrine \ 
Surely nothing ; for it not only interposes an insu- 
perable barrier against complying with the first great 
command, but leads men to form characters, which 
must secure their condemnation ! 

Equally unfortunate are the tendencies of this 
doctrine, in relation to the second great command- 
ment. It presents the most dark and repulsive 
views of human nature. It describes men as " ut- 
terly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all 
g-ood, and Avholly inclined to all evil,"^ so that 
ait hough they " may have spoken the language of 
kinJness to their friends, given useful instruction to 
their children, salutary advice to their neighbors ; ' ? 
although they " may have fed the hungry, clothed 
the naked, and attended, with decency, the public 

# Cambridge and Saybrook Platform, Confession of Faith r 
ch. 6, § 4. 



50 universalist's assistant. 

worship of God, these same actions are all sinful ;" 
so that " every thought, every train of reasoning, 
every conclusion, every imagination of the heart, 
and every purpose of the understanding, has been 
evil, and only evil, and that continually."^ This 
while they are unre generate. 

Let any man entertain such views of his race, 
and what must be the effect upon his mind and 
feelings ? Must it not be to make him distrust all 
men ; to make him regard all goodness and virtue 
as shallow and insincere, unless accompanied with 
some sectarian badge ; to make him narrow and 
exclusive in his views and feelings ; and to harden 
his heart against his race ? How can any man, who 
regards the great mass of mankind utterly desti 
tute of all goodness, the enemies of God and all 
good, from their very natures, however aimable in 
their external conduct, and eminently virtuous in 
all their ways; who regards them as fiends in 
human shape ; minions of satan, clothed in gar- 
ments of light, have any love for them ? He surely 
ought not to love them. It is a virtue to hate man- 
kind, as one would satan himself, if such is their 
character. So that this doctrine interposes a pow- 
erful barrier against a compliance with the second 
great commandment. 

There is still another way in which this doctrine 

* National Preacher. Vol. A, p. 222. No. for August, 

1829. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 51 

operates against the formation of such a character, 
as the gospel demands. It describes all the demands 
and duties of religion, so far as relates to their 
character in the sight of God, in such dark and 
dubious terms, that no human understanding can 
apprehend them. It thickly spreads darkness and 
obscurity over the whole duty of man, and then 
calls upon him to engage in its performance, under 
the penalty of everlasting destruction ! It hedges 
up the way of life with impenetrable darkness, and 
then calls upon men to escape from impending 
vengeance ! If they complain that they cannot un- 
derstand its directions, nor see the way it describes, 
it mocks them with the declaration, that they are 
not expected to see or understand, because their 
spiritual eyes have not been opened, and their 
understandings are yet carnal ! In other words, it 
demands of men that they shall do, without under- 
standing, and walk, with a firm and undeviating 
step, without seeing! Thus does it fill men's 
minds with hesitancy and doubt. They fear to go 
forward, lest they should go wrong ; to go back- 
ward, lest they should stumble ; to go to the right 
hand, lest they should enter the wrong path ; and 
to go to the left, lest they should fall under the gui- 
dance of an evil spirit. Thus men are kept in 
suspense, waiting for they know not what, or make 
a desperate plunge into the sea of passion and sin, 
trusting to some miracle to rescue and save them, 



52 

instead of using their own powers to work out their 
own salvation with fear and trembling". Is the 
belief of such a doctrine safe? Nay, instead of 
being safe, it is perilous to men's souls, and should 
be avoided as the pestilence that walketh in dark- 
ness and wasteth at noon-day. 

Let us now look at Universalism, and see if it 
has any better tendency. It clothes the divine 
character in all the beauty and excellence of a 
father's love. It echoes the voice of nature and 
revelation, in proclaiming that God is good unto all, 
and his tender mercies over all his works ;* that 
as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities his 
erring offspring ;t that he is kind to the unthankful 
and the evil ;t that he doth not afflict willingly nor 
grieve the children of men ;§ and that all the suf- 
ferings he sends upon men, are sent that they may 
become partakers in his holiness. II 

Now, what can be better calculated to attract and 
secure the affections of rational beings, than such a 
character as this, and thus secure obedience to the 
first great command ? It is in perfect conformity 
with our highest ideas of excellence. It is not an 
effeminate kindness which yields the right and the 
true to its own weakness ; but that kindness which 
is tempered with the dignity and energy of truth 
and right ; which, while it pities and relieves, is 

* Ps. 145 : 9. t Ps. 103 : 13. f Luke 6 : 35. 

<^Lam. 3: 33. II Heb. 10: 12. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 53 

firm and unyielding in its attachments to justice 
and rectitude. If such a character will not call 
forth the admiration, the gratitude, the reverence, 
and the love of rational beings, nothing can. And 
then, if like begets like, how perfectly is it adapted 
to the formation of precisely such a character in 
man, as the gospel demands ! It is itself the per- 
fection of what the religion of Jesus designs to 
make man ; and if it begets its own image in the 
human soul, man will be precisely what the Scrip- 
tures represent as securing God's approbation. 

And then, in regard to man, Universalism teaches 
such views of his nature, as are calculated to secure 
a compliance with the second great commandment. 
Like the Scriptures, it represents that all men are 
made of one blood,^ and have the same Father ;t 
that all have the same germ of immortality, destin- 
ed to bloom in unfading beauty ;t that all are fed 
by the same munificent hand ;§ upheld by the same 
kind providence ;ll dependent upon the same good- 
ness both for time and eternity ;1F that all are des- 
tined to the same final home, and the participation 
of the same joys forever. ^ It calls upon men to 
love God, because he first loves them ;tt to love 
mankind, because he loves them, and sent his son 
to die for their redemption ;$$ and because " there 

* Acts 17 : 26. + Mai. 2 : 10. %1 Tim. 4 : 10. 
§ Acts 17 : 25. || Ps. 145 : 14. T[ Tit. 3 : 5. 
**Eccl. 2: 14. ft 1 John 4: 19. 

# 1 Thes. 5 : 10. 2 Cor. 5 : 14. 

5# 



54 universalist's assistant. 

is more joy in heaven over one sinner that repent- 
eth, than over ninety and nine just persons, who 
need no repentance."^ 

If we look upon our race in such a light as this, 
we can discover something in every individual, 
however much it may be obscured by sin, worthy 
of our affections. However much the fine gold 
may become dimmed, or deeply it may be buried 
in earth or dross, it is gold still. Its nature remains 
unchanged. With such views, whenever we see the 
form of a man, however much it may be marred and 
disfigured by intemperance and sin, we know the 
principles and elements of a man are still there. 
We know he has a nature like our own, susceptible 
of the same improvement and elevation. We know 
he is a brother, a child of the same Father. He 
has fallen among robbers, who have stripped him 
of his dignity and glory, and left him half dead. 
Only let him be washed and cleansed, and his 
wounds and bruises healed, and he will again stand 
forth a man, made in God's own image. 

What can be better calculated to secure obedi- 
ence to the second great commandment, than such 
views as these ? What can be better calculated to 
awaken an interest in men for each other, and 
secure those kind and generous sympathies, de- 
manded by the Saviour ? How can any man 
entertain such views, if they are active principles 

* Luke 15 : 7. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 55 

in his soul, without being inspired with new interest 
in his race, and being led to feed the hungry, 
clothe the naked, and visit the sick and imprisoned ? 
It is impossible. And these are the very character- 
istics for which men are approved and blessed, by 
our religion, and for the want of which they are 
condemned and punished. 

And now I put the question to every serious and 
reflecting mind — which of these doctrines, in your 
sober and candid judgment, is the best calculated 
to form such a character as the gospel demands ; 
the doctrine of endless misery, with its appalling 
views of God's character, and its dark and repulsive 
views of human nature, or Universalism, with its 
high conceptions of the Divine character, so congenial 
with our highest notions and most exalted conceptions 
of greatness and goodness, and its interesting and 
lovely representations of man's nature ? Which 
addresses itself the most strongly to our reason and 
conscience, and is the best adapted to call forth 
those feelings, and induce the formation of that 
character, which the Bible demands ? Which is 
the best adapted to the production of those amiable 
and kind sentiments and feelings required of the 
Christian, so far as it may exert any influence over 
human character? 

There can be but one answer from any intelli- 
gent, reflecting and candid person. Such a person 
must not only see, but feel, that Universalism, so far 



56 universalist's assistant. 

as it exerts any influence over the minds, hearts 
and lives of men, is the best calculated to form that 
generous, disinterested and amiable character Chris- 
tianity requires. This position might be verified 
by an appeal to facts, as they lie about us in society. 
But it is unnecessary. 

Suppose we admit then, for the sake of the argu- 
ment, that men's eternal state will be determined 
by the character they form in this life, and which 
they are found to sustain at the judgment, and that 
such a character is necessary to secure the approba- 
tion and blessing of the Most High, as is described 
in the texts quoted on a previous page ; which 
doctrine is the safest to believe, were belief a matter 
of choice ? Plainly and obviously Universalism. 
Why ? Simply because it has the most powerful 
tendency to secure those virtues which Heaven 
approves and blesses. 

With all this before us, we must conclude that 
the doctrine of endless misery is an exceedingly 
unsafe doctrine to be believed, even if it is true ; 
for it not only brings ruin upon men's moral inter- 
ests, and destruction to their happiness here, but by 
its unfavorable influences, jeopardizes their eternal 
happiness hereafter. 

The truth is, so far as belief is concerned, man's 
only safety lies in his seeking to attain those views 
of the Divine character, and of human nature, cal- 
culated to exert the most healthful moral influences 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 57 

over his mind and heart. And I think it has been 
shown, that Universalism is the belief, which affords 
these influences, in a degree far above its opposite^ 
leaving the question of its truth unsettled. If such 
be the case, it must be the safest to adopt, even 
though it prove false. But to suppose a doctrine 
capable of exerting such an influence false, is a very- 
great absurdity. It would be maintaining, that the 
influence of falsehood, is better than that of truth. 
The fact is, the very circumstance, that Universal- 
ism has this superior moral tendency, is a very 
powerful argument for its truth. 

In the light of all this, I submit to the reader to 
determine how much truth there is in the following 
remarks : — " If Universalists are in the right, we 
who believe in a doctrine very different from theirs, 
are nevertheless just as safe as they. We need not 
concern ourselves to examine whether we are in 
the right or in the wrong as to opinion, since there 
can be no difference in the result." ^ 

* Stuart's Exeget. Ess., p. 151 — 2. It is truly humiliat- 
ing to see such remarks as these, from such a source ; for 
it betrays a state of mind, little in accordance with what we 
have a right to expect. 



58 universalist's assistant. 



SECTION III. — CHRIST AND HIS APOSTLES INCOMPETENT 
TEACHERS. 



" I fear to embrace the doctrine of universal salvation, 
because it would oblige me to regard Christ and his Apos- 
tles as incompetent or dishonest teachers of religion, and 
the Bible itself as fitted and designed to lead men into 
error.* 



This objection is founded upon the idea, " that 
the Christian Scriptures were written for the 
express purpose of teaching the salvation of all 
men;t "that, by himself or his apostles, Jesus 
Christ opposed every essential religious error of his 
age and country, in the most explicit, direct and 
positive terms ;"t and consequently, " the doctrine 
of universal salvation, if it were true, being a doc- 
trine never before heard of, he would have formally, 
fully, and repeatedly announced, explained, and 
enforced it."§ 

Now the idea here set forth, is most manifestly 
false, and is one which no well-informed, serious 
and candid mind ever entertained, among the 
believers of Universalism. Had it have been the 
purpose of the writers of the New Testament, to 
have explained and enforced a system of dogmatic 
theology, no one can doubt, that every point would 

* Tract, No. 224, p. 2. fDo. p. 3. 

% Royce's Lectures, p. 34. § Do. p. 35. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 59 

have been so clearly defined and unequivocally 
expressed, that there should have been no room for 
mistake, among serious and candid people. Had 
such have been their design, there would have been 
as little room for misapprehension as to the doc- 
trines taught in the Bible, as there is in reference 
to those contained in the Westminster Catechism, 
or the Cambridge and Saybrook Platform. But it 
is not so. It is not true either that Christ or the 
apostles directly opposed u every essential religious 
error of his age and country ;" or that the New- 
Testament was " written for the express purpose of 
teaching the salvation of all men," nor indeed any 
other one doctrine. They had higher aims and 
ends in view, than to establish a dry and barren 
system of dogmatic theology — to teach men how 
they might attain their own salvation. 

The truth is, there were many errors which pre- 
vailed in the age and country in which Jesus and 
his apostles lived, and very serious ones too, even 
in theology, with which they have not meddled. 
I will name but one — the doctrine of man's exist- 
ence after the dissolution of the material body — 
the manner of attaining it. The common doctrine 
of the Jews of those times, who believed in future 
existence at all, was that of the transmigration of 
souls. Hence an eminent writer says, " that this- 
Pythagorian dogma was become pretty general 
among the Jews, appears from some passages in 



60 universalist's assistant. 

the gospels."^ That this was an error, no one in 
a Christian land doubts, and what was the course 
of Christ and his apostles in reference to it ? Did 
they oppose it in direct and explicit terms, even in 
a single instance ? No. So far from correcting 
this error, they adopted the very same wordt to 
represent a future existence for man, as was com- 
monly used by the Jews, for this purpose. Indeed, 
one apostle goes so far as to declare — " I am a 
Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee, of the hope of the 
resurrection] of the dead I am called in question."! 
" And have hope toward God, which they them- 
selves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection] 
of the dead, both of the just and unjust. "§ Why 
this course, in regard to this error, when Jesus cor- 
rected another errorll held in connexion with the 
doctrine of future existence ? Shall we infer from 
this, that " Christ and his apostles were incompe- 
tent or dishonest teachers of religion, and the Bible 
itself fitted and designed to lead men into error ? " 

# Campbell's Four Gospels, Prelim. Dissertations, Dis. 
VI., Pt. 2, § 19. See also Dr. A. Clarke's Com. on John 9 : 
2. Also Whitby, Barnes, and Livermore in loco. 

f ^Aruoraoiq " denotes simply, being raised from inactivity 
to action, or from obscurity to eminence, or a return to 
such a state, after an interruption. ... In this view, 
when applied to the dead, the word denotes, properly, no 
more than a renewal of life, to them, in whatever manner 
this may happen." — Campbell's Note on Malt. 22 : 23. 

X Acts 23: 6. § Do. 24: 15. 

|| That is, the idea that the same relations exist in a 
future state as in this. Matt. 22 : 30. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 61 

The fact is, the Bible was not written for the 
express purpose of teaching Universalis m or any 
other ism; but to inculcate great and universal 
principles^ — principles which lay at the foundation 
of all theoretical religious truth; to renovate and 
correct the spirit and tendencies of that age ; to 
explain the way of salvation ; and to introduce men 
into the kingdom of heaven. Hence they left all 
errors to be corrected by the silent influences of 
these great principles, except such as interposed a 
barrier to the reception of these principles, and the 
attainment of those great ends. Hence many and 
very great errors were permitted to pass unnoticed 
by them.t 

Making out a system of belief from the Bible, is 
precisely like an attempt to determine an individ- 
ual's belief, upon all points in theology, from a vol- 
ume made up of letters, poetry, biography, sketches 
of discourses, and conversations on practical and 
experimental religion. Here and there we shall 
find his views expressed upon some one or more 

# " Jesus seized those fundamental principles which were 
current among his countrymen, discarded everything which 
had merely a local, civil or national reference ; selected the 
purely moral, refined and elevated it to its true dignity, and 
rendered it complete by supplying its deficiencies." — Hug's 
Intro, to N. T., p. 11. Andover, 1836. 

f Among these may be named demoniacal possessions, 
and the supernatural influences of Python, a heathen god. 
Acts 16 : 16, where a girl is said to be possessed with 
nvsiifia IIi&woc, a spirit of Python. 

6 



62 universalist's assistant. 

doctrinal point, as the foundation or stimulant to 
some duty, or to correct the error of some one with 
whom he might be conversing. By picking out 
and bringing together these scattered fragments, we 
may be able to make out his system of theology. 
So with the Bible. A system of doctrines is 
nowhere formally stated and discussed. Hence the 
great diversity of opinions for which the Bible is 
made responsible, while all are equally honest. 
One man sees one part, and another a different part. 
One individual looks at a statement from one point 
of view, and another views the same thing from a 
different position, and consequently comes to a dif- 
ferent, and it may be a widely different, conclusion. 

From the statements and reasoning already pre- 
sented, it is sufficiently manifest, that the idea upon 
which the objection is founded, is incorrect, and of 
course the objection is without force, and we might 
leave it here ; but there are several other consider- 
ations, which I wish to have observed ; and to this 
end all that has been said may pass as irrelevant. 

1. This objection lies with far greater force 
against Christianity itself than it does against 
Universalism. 

Let any one take the Old Testament and read 
the representations of the character and dignity of 
the promised Messiah, as portrayed by the Hebrew 
bards, by whom he is represented as a great king, 
and a mighty conqueror, going forth and subduing 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 63 

nations and kingdoms, and bringing them under 
his dominion. With these glowing descriptions 
before him, let him look at the individual who 
came among the Jews, claiming to be the Messiah, 
and which we Christians believe to be such, as he 
is represented by his own friends ; and what is 
there in his appearance or doings, to answer to 
those glowing descriptions ? He had no hereditary 
titles, power or authority. He was a humble 
mechanic, clad in the common apparel of his pro- 
fession, and wandering about his native country, 
attended by a few individuals, as humble in their 
pretensions as himself, called from the publican's 
seat, and their fishing nets, without a place where 
to lay their heads ! Instead of being surrounded 
with the pomp and splendor of courts, and engaged 
in raising and appointing armies, he was dining at 
the publican's table, or standing on a vessel's deck, 
surrounded with the degraded and outcast of society, 
instructing their ignorance, healing their diseases, 
reclaiming them from their vices, and telling them 
to go and sin no more ; comforting the afflicted, 
encouraging the desponding, and restoring the 
maniac to soundness of mind, while he hurled the 
most terrible denunciations at those who were sup- 
posed to be the only suitable associates of so distin- 
guished a personage. We can hardly conceive of 
a character more entirely opposite to that described 
by the prophets, when those descriptions are taken 



64 universalist's assistant. 

literally, than was that of Jesus. Might not a 
pious Jew, with his hands upon the books of the 
prophets, exclaim with far greater force and pro- 
priety, " I fear to believe this man the Messiah, 
because it would oblige me to regard Moses and 
the prophets, as incompetent or dishonest teachers 
of religion, and the Bible itself as fitted and 
designed to lead men into error ? " It is even so ; 
and this was the very ground, upon which the 
Jews rejected Jesus. Let the objector see to it, 
that he does not fall into the same condemnation ! 

2. This objection lays with far greater force 
against some of the distinguishing features of 
Protestantism, than it does against Universalis??!. 

I will notice but one instance, and that is the 
doctrine, that the elements used in the Lord's Sup- 
per, by consecration, are transmuted into the real, 
veritable, bona fide flesh and blood of Jesus. The 
following language certainly comes much nearer 
expressing this idea in unequivocal terms, than any- 
thing in the Bible does the doctrine of endless 
misery. " Jesus took bread, and blessed, and 
brake it, and gave it to them, and said, Take, eat ; 
this is my body. And he took the cup, and when 
he had given thanks, he gave it to them ; and they 
all drank of it. And he said unto them, this is my 
blood of the New Testament, which is shed for 
many."^ " Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, 

* Mark 14 : 22, 25. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 65 

verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of 
the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no 
life in you."^ With such language as this before 
him, may not the Catholic, with his hands upon 
the Gospels, exclaim — " I fear to embrace Protest- 
antism, because it would oblige me to regard Christ 
and his apostles as incompetent or dishonest teach- 
ers of religion, and the Bible itself fitted and 
designed to lead men into error?" Most assuredly 
he might ; and that too, with much more propriety 
than the objection under consideration was uttered. 
Thus it will be seen, that admitting all the objec- 
tion assumes, it is without force, because it proves 
more than those wbo urge it will admit. The 
truth is, it is no objection to any doctrine, that men 
have heretofore failed to discover it. The true 
question is not, whether men have failed to dis- 
cover any fact in times past, but whether it now can 
be proved to be a fact. The learned and the un- 
learned, the wise and the ignorant, the philosopher 
and the plough-boy, the sage and the savage, had 
seen apples fall to the ground for near six thousand 
years, and yet not one of them ever read in that 
simple phenomenon, the great law of gravitation. 
But their blindness to so obvious a thing, does not 
weigh much against the discovery of Newton. So 
men have read and studied the Scriptures for many 
centuries ; but it would be nothing marvellous, if 

* John 6 : 53. 
6* 



66 

they have not yet discovered all the truth they con- 
tain ; nor is it any objection to any new truth, men 
may imagine they discover, that it has not been 
seen before. The true question is — Is it sustained 
by competent and miimpeachable testimony ? 

So in regard to Universalism. It is no objection 
to its truth, that so few, comparatively, have dis- 
covered it ; or that Universalists have been men of 
inferior learning, talents and piety ; for it is some- 
times the case, and it may be so in ours, that " God 
hath chosen the foolish things of the world, to con- 
found the wise ; and the weak things of the world 
to confound the things which are mighty ; and the 
base things of the world, and things which are 
despised, and things which are not, to bring to 
naught things that are ; that no flesh should glory 
in his presence ; "^ and that, as in another case, 
" not many w T ise men after the flesh, not many 
mighty, not many noble are called."! Still, to 
show that Universalists are not quite so contempt- 
ible, ignorant and obscure as they are sometimes 
represented, I may be pardoned if I name a 
few both in the past and the present ; such as 
Clemens Alexandrinus and Origen, two of the 
most influential and learned men among the early 
Christians. They were teachers in the Alexan- 
drian school, and stood at its head. This school, 
which was the most celebrated and exerted more 

* 1 Cor. 1 : 27—29. f Do- 1 : 26. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 67 

than any other, was distinguished, among other 
things, ( for its Universalism.^ In more modern 
times, I may name Bishop Newton, Archbishop 
Tillotson, Dr. Jebb, Dr. Priestley, John Frederic 
Oberlin, Elhanan Winchester, Dr. Rush, and others 
too numerous to mention. To say nothing of those 
in our own country, who hold this doctrine ; it is 
admitted even at Andover, that in Germany, " it 
has been fashionable among the more popular Ger- 
man divines to disbelieve" the doctrine of eternal 
punishment ; and that even Tholuc himself, whom 
they have labored so hard to clear of all suspicion 
of heresy upon this subject, " says even of the 
evangelical theologians, a good number of them 
cherish a hope of a final conversion of all men."^ 
Are all these men persons of inferior talents, learn- 
ing and piety ? Nay, they are among the most emi- 
nent men, the religious world has ever produced.^ 

*Giesler's Eccl. Hist., Period 1, Div. Ill, Chap. 3, § 60 
and 61. 

t German Selections, p. 217. 

X Dr. Murdock says of Origen : " Against the more 
learned pagans and the heretics of those times, he was 
a champion who had no equal ; he was also considered a 
devout Christian, and was, beyond question, the first biblical 
scholar of the age. His winning eloquence, his great learn- 
ing, his amiable temper, his reputation for sincere and ardent 
piety, gave him immense influence, especially among the 
higher classes in society. No man. since the apostles, had 
been more indefatigable, and no one had done more to dif- 
fuse knowledge and make the Christian community intelli- 
gent, united, and respectable in the view of mankind." — 
Translation of Mosheim's Eccl. Hist., Vol. 1. pp. 204—6, Note 
9. New Have?i, 1832. 



68 universalist's assistant. 

That Universalism has not been more generally 
received in the Christian Church, or that we hear 
so little of it from the sixth century until the Re- 
formation in the sixteenth century, is not very won- 
derful ; and it is to be attributed to very different 
causes, than that of the want of testimony in its 
favor in the Scriptures. During this period, which 
has been justly termed " the dark ages," the theol- 
ogy of the church was drawn from any source, 
but the Bible; for hardly one in a thousand of her 
clergy, ever saw a copy of the Scriptures, and if 
they had, it was of no use to them, because they 
could not read a word in them, such was their 
deplorable ignorance. Beside, every one who dared 
to depart from the received doctrines, was sure to 
be hunted down, and his voice silenced by fire and 
sword. Still, that Universalism had its advocates 
even in these days of darkness, and this period 
of the reign of terror and sin, is sufficiently mani- 
fest from the proceedings of ecclesiastical councils 
at different periods.^ 

If there is anything strange about the matter, it 
is that Universalism has had so many advocates as 
it has. The fact is, the vices, the passions and the 
selfish interests of the world, are, and ever have 
been, and ever will be arrayed against this doctrine ; 
and humiliating as may be the fact, nevertheless, a 

* Ancient History of Universalism, p> 301, et seq. Ap- 
pendix. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 69 

fact it is, that comparatively few persons have the 
moral courage to rise up in rebellion to public 
opinion, and jeopardize their reputations, their for- 
tunes, their lives — their all, by an avowal of an 
obnoxious truth. Most men had rather remain 
moored amid the fogs of error, however pestilential 
they may be, than to launch forth upon the sea of 
inquiry, even with the Bible for a chart and com- 
pass. And this disposition is but too much encour- 
aged, by not a few, who hold the responsible office 
of religious teachers. 

That it is such influences, not the plainness with 
which its opposite is revealed in the Scriptures, that 
has prevented the more general diffusion and adop- 
tion of Universalism, is manifest from the actual 
history of the matter. In the earlier ages of the 
church, while the Scriptures were freely circulated 
among the people, and generally read and studied 
by the clergy, Universalism showed itself, and at 
the period when the greatest attention was paid to 
this matter, and there were the greatest number of 
biblical scholars and critics, then it prevailed the 
most widely, and numbered among its advocates the 
most eminent and distinguished scholars in the 
church. But when less attention was given to the 
study of the Scriptures, and Christians gave them- 
selves to strife and contention, Universalism began 
to decline ; and just in proportion to the neglect of 
the Bible, and the departure of the church from the 



70 universalist's assistant. 

spirit of Christ, did Universalism disappear, until, 
when the Bible was entirely abandoned, and the 
church given up to ignorance, stupidity and sin, it 
totally disappeared, amid the worse than Egyptian 
darkness that prevailed. 

When the reformation in the sixteenth century 
broke out, and men were once more admitted to the 
sacred pages, to read and understand them accord- 
ing to the dictates of their own judgments, immedi- 
ately believers and advocates of Universalism, 
sprang up in all directions. And just in proportion 
to the degree of attention given to the study of the 
Bible in every period since, has this doctrine pre- 
vailed. As the one has advanced and receded, so 
has the other, until the present time, distinguished 
above all others, for its wonderful activity of mind, 
its freedom of inquiry, and its diligent, patient and 
laborious research, and now a greater proportion of 
professing Christians entertain this doctrine, than 
at any period since the days of Origen. With 
those who hail under the name of Universalists, 
may be reckoned almost the entire Unitarian denom- 
ination, both in this country and Europe, together 
with immense numbers of the members of all the 
various Protestant sects, as believers in this beauti- 
ful doctrine. 

The same fact appears, when we compare dif- 
ferent countries with each other, and one section of 
the same country with another. For example ; 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 71 

take Germany, which has been well pronounced a 
land of scholars, and where biblical science has 
received more attention, than anywhere else under 
heaven, and there Universalism prevails more 
widely and enrolls more eminent names among its 
friends than in any other country. Then take the 
United States, which undoubtedly stands next to 
Germany in its activity of mind, the diligent indus- 
try and perseverance of its scholars, and the freedom 
of inquiry, and the attention to religious subjects, 
and the same phenomenon appears. A comparison 
of the different sections of this country, will afford 
evidence to the same point. A comparison of New 
England, where the greatest attention has been 
paid to the reading and study of the Scriptures of 
any section, with the Middle and Western States, 
and of all these with the Southern States, goes 
to establish my position ; for in the first named 
section, are the greatest numbers of Universal- 
ists, in proportion to the population ; in the next, 
where there is and ever has been less attention to 
religious inquiry, the number is less who embrace 
this doctrine ; and in the last, where there is little 
or no attention to these matters, there is an absolute 
dearth of Universalism. It might also be remarked, 
that the prevalence of this doctrine, bears a singular 
and striking proportion, to the degree of purity and 
elevation in public morals. Where public morals 
are the most pure and elevated, and the most intel- 



72 universalist's ASSISTANT, i 

lectual cultivation exists, there Universalism prevails 
the most widely; and where there is the most 
ignorance, and public morals the most debased, 
there it is almost, if not entirely, shut out. 

Now if there is such an entire absence of proof 
in favor of Universalism in the Bible, that the man 
who embraces it, " must regard Christ and his 
apostles as incompetent or dishonest teachers of 
religion, and the Bible itself as fitted and designed 
to lead men into error," how are we to explain 
these undeniable and palpable facts ? Why is it, 
that Universalism has ever had a prevalence, just 
in proportion to the degree of attention given to the 
study of the Scriptures, the elevation of public 
morals, and the freedom of inquiry and toleration 
enjoyed ? How happens it, that some of the most 
distinguished men, profound scholars, eminent bibli- 
cal critics, and deeply religious and devout Chris- 
tians, in every age and country, where any tolerable 
degree of interest exists in religious inquiry, and 
freedom and toleration is indulged and allowed, 
have been and now are Universalists ? This is a 
problem I shall leave those who make the objection 
under consideration, to solve. 

And beside, why are those who now believe the 
doctrine of endless punishment so much afraid of 
having people hear Universalism discussed, if it so 
manifestly unscriptural ? Do not the following 
remarks upon the Reformation explain it ? " As to 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 73 

the majority of those whose souls were terrified at 
the thought of relinquishing a wonted and revered 
conviction, they no longer had it the moment they 
feared they should lose it. That they believed they 
had, and maintained the pretension, made the case 
no better; for the deception could not last long." ^ 



SECTION IV. WHY DID THE PREACHING OF CHRIST 

AND THE APOSTLES ALARM THE FEARS AND 
AWAKEN THE ENMITY OF WICKED MEN? 

" If Christ and his Apostles believed and taught the salva- 
tion of all men, it seems impossible to account for the fact, 
that their preaching so much alarmed the fears and awa- 
kened the enmity of wicked men."| 

It is unquestioned and unquestionable, that such 
an effect was produced, by the preaching of Christ 
and his Apostles. And when it is asked, " Were 
any such effects ever known to be produced by the 
preaching of Universalists ? "t lam constrained to 
answer in the affirmative. So when it is asked, 
" Did you ever know any wicked man, any profane 
swearer, Sabbath-breaker, drunkard, infidel, or de- 
spiser of sacred things, displeased at hearing this 
doctrine ? I must answer, only in a few instances, 
and that when they were raging with passion 
against some fellow-creature. At other times, when 

* Biblical Repository, Vol. 9., p. 340, April, 1837. 
f Tract 224, p. 5. $ Tract 224, p. 6. 

7 



74 universalist's assistant. 

the better principles and feelings of human nature 
predominate, they are always pleased with the idea 
this doctrine presents. Indeed, I cannot conceive 
how any mind, under the dominion of pure, benevo- 
lent and generous principles and feelings, can be 
any other than pleased with it. It is only those 
raging with passion against some one, the sour- 
hearted, selfish, malicious and hating bigot, that can 
be offended with the doctrine. It harmonizes with 
the highest and holiest impulses of all other hearts ; 
and of this its friends and believers have great reason 
to be proud. It is its honor and glory. 

I know, indeed, that arguing the single point of the 
salvation of all men, is not peculiarly calculated to 
convict men of sin and bring them to repentance. But 
this is no truer of Universalism, than it is of every 
other ism under heaven. Every sect holds more or 
less doctrines, the inculcation and defence of which, 
cannot, from the very nature of the case, secure any 
of these effects, however important and salutary they 
may be, when taken in connexion with the system 
they hold. For example, take the system of the ob- 
jector, which includes the doctrines of the trinity, 
vicarious atonement, total native depravity, and the 
final perseverance of the saints, and I ask what salu- 
tary moral influence is their inculcation and defence 
calculated to produce ? Who ever heard of any com- 
punctions of conscience being produced ; any sense 
of guilt and shame excited ; any awakening of the 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 75 

moral senses to be secured ; any harrowing up of the 
soul with remorse and fear ; or the formation of any- 
holy resolves, in a wicked man, or any sinner led to 
repentance, by arguing any of these doctrines ? No 
one will pretend this. Hence, if this circumstance 
is anything against Universalism, or goes to show, 
that it is inconsistent with the teachings of Christ 
and his Apostles, it proves the same thing in regard 
to a misnamed Orthodoxy. 

The objection under consideration proceeds upon 
the presumption, that the Universalist pulpit has, 
and can have, no other employment, than arguing 
the solitary doctrine of universal salvation ; a pre- 
sumption that is utterly unfounded and false. That 
the ministry of this denomination may have given 
an undue share of attention to the inculcation and 
defence of this one idea, I am not disposed to deny. 
But I do deny, that they have sinned any more, in 
this respect, than their contemporaries of other sects. 
To represent that they are limited, in their pulpit 
ministrations, to one point of doctrine, or that, be- 
cause they may have given an undue degree of time 
and attention to the proof of their distinguishing 
article of belief, nothing else is heard from them, is 
as unjust, false and, slanderous a representation, as it 
would be to describe the ministrations of the Baptist 
pulpit as limited to the defence of immersion alone as 
baptism; or those of the Pedo-Baptists, as given 
merely to the defence of infant baptism. This 



76 universalist's assistant. 

would be as true of these last cases, as is the intima- 
tion in regard to the former. All of them, at times, 
have erred in the course they have pursued. They 
have proclaimed their peculiarities, to the neglect 
of the weightier matters of the law, "judgment, 
mercy and faith." And if these last are excusable for 
their error, in reference to mere non-essentials, surely 
TJniversalists ought to be, for their mistakes, when 
the matter involved, relates to man's eternal destiny, 
the essential character of the eternal God, and funda- 
mentally affects the whole system of theology. 

In regard to the actual effects produced by the 
Universalist pulpit, I must say, and upon this mat- 
ter I can speak advisedly, that no pulpits in the land 
more frequently displease the profane swearer, the 
Sabbath-breaker, the drunkard, the infidel, and the 
despiser of sacred things, than those of this denomi- 
nation. No pulpits speak out more distinctly, boldly 
and fearlessly against these and all other vices. I 
can truly say, I have heard some of the most 
pointed, faithful and earnest rebukes of the preva- 
lent vices of society, from the ministers of this faith, 
to which I have ever listened. And no ministers 
are more frequently made to suffer in their reputa- 
tions and interests, from the malicious slanders, 
abuse and falsehoods of the unprincipled and wicked, 
or pursued with more unrelenting fury and persever- 
ance, by the profane swearer, the Sabbath-breaker, 
the drunkard, the infidel, and the despisers of sacred 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 77 

things, and all whose hearts are fully set on doing 
evil. They stand between two fires, — that of these 
characters, and that of the sanctimonious and bigoted 
hypocrite, 

" Who steals the livery of the court of heaven, 
To serve the devil in." 

It is true, that " Christ rarely preached a sermon, 
which did not excite uneasiness in the minds of sin- 
ners, and send them away dissatisfied and murmur- 
ing against the preacher. The same is true of the 
apostles." ^ " But who were the wicked men whose 
fears and enmity were excited ? Who were these 
sinners who went away dissatisfied and murmur- 
ing?"! It was not " the worldly and gay, the im- 
penitent and prayerless;"* but the professedly reli- 
gious, praying, Sabbath-keeping people, whom he 
compared to whited sepulchres, whose outward ap- 
pearance was beautiful, while within they were full 
of hypocrisy and iniquity ;§ pious rulers and Phari- 
sees, who thought themselves righteous and despised 
others.il It was such persons as these, whom Jesus 
told, " the publicans and harlots go into the kingdom 
of God before you ;"1T men thoroughly bent upon 
doing evil, who were offended at the preaching of 
Christ and his apostles, and persecuted them from 
city to city. But it was not so with the multitude 

* Tract 224, p. 5. f Reply to Tract 224, p. 13. 

% Tract 224, p. 6. § Matt. 23 : 27. 

|| Luke 18: 9. f Matt. 21: 31. 

7^ 



78 universalist's assistant. 

that sinned through ignorance,^ for " the common 
people heard him gladly,"! and wondered at the 
gracious words that he uttered. X Those who were 
pronounced " cursed," § publicans and sinners, II and 
the like, were never offended at his preaching, al- 
though he rebuked their sins in the most plain and 
affectionate, and earnest manner. Such persons were 
his principal friends and patrons. Hence he was 
denounced as the friend of publicans and sinners ; 
sneered and scoffed at as a Sabbath-breaker ; 1!" 

# There are some persons who are vicious and depraved, 
that are disposed to think, because the denunciations of 
Christ are levelled against hypocritical sinners, that a man is 
quite excusable for his abominations, if they are committed 
openly and above-board, without any attempt to conceal 
them, under a mask of goodness. So also there are those 
who seem to think a minister must not preach in a way that 
will give offence to any open, undisguised and shameless 
sinner, no matter how degraded • and that he is utterly un- 
pardonable in so doing, because publicans and sinners did 
not become offended at Christ's preaching. But both are 
sadly deceived. If a man wilfully and knowingly lives in 
habits of vice and wrong, he is equally guilty, whether he 
commits his deeds of wickedness in the face of heaven and 
earth, with a shameless impudence and indifference to all 
consequences, or endeavors to conceal them under a mask 
of goodness and virtue. In truth, the former shows a deeper 
depravity than the latter. Beside, no mortal can rebuke 
and expose a vice, even with an angel's voice of sweetness 
and love, without offending those whose hearts are fully set 
upon doing evil ; while ignorant offenders will take no of- 
fence. And this is the precise reason for the different course 
pursued toward, and the treatment Christ received from, the 
Pharisees and publicans and sinners. 

fMark 12: 37. % Luke 4 : 22. 

§ John 7: 49. || Matt. 9 : 11. 

IT Mark 2: 27. Luke 13: 14. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 79 

a glutton and a wine-bibber;^ and rejected as a 
blasphemer,! a deceiver of the people^ on whom 
none of the rulers or the Pharisees had believed. § 
It was such persons as these who were the most 
offended at the preaching of Christ, expressed the 
" deepest abhorrence " II of him, and finally pro- 
cured his death. They were offended because he 
would not permit them to go on in their sins undis- 
turbed by exposure and rebuke ; and this result will 
always follow such a course, upon all whose hearts 
are fully set upon doing evil, regardless of all conse- 
quences, whether they be open, undisguised and 
shameless, or hypocritical sinners, be the teacher a 
Universalist or anything else. 

*Matt. 11: 19. Luke 7 : 34. 

t Matt. 9:3. | Matt. 27 : 63. John 7 : 12. 

$ John 7 : 48. || Tract 224, p. 7. 



so 



SECTION V. TTNIVERSALISM INCONSISTENT WITH THE 

CHARACTER OF GOD AS A REWARDER. 

" The doctrine of universal salvation is inconsistent with 
the character of God as a rewarder, and with the great truth, 

that men are now in a state of probation If Univer- 

salism is true, God is not a righteous moral governor ; he 
makes no public and visible distinction between those who 
serve him, and those who serve hi m not ; but is an indif- 
ferent spectator of the conduct of men ; neither loving holi- 
ness nor hating sin ; neither rewarding the righteous, nor 
punishing the wicked." # 

The main positions here stated, as well as the 
collateral ideas involved, must strike every well- 
disciplined mind, as both singular and extraordinary. 
It is, in effect, maintaining that there is no such 
thing as rewards and punishments, under the Divine 
government, unless they are infinite in measure 
and endless in duration ; for the precise difference 
between the believer in endless punishment and the 
TJniversalist, is simply in relation to the character, 
objects and duration of the rewards and punish- 
ments for men's doings in this life — the Univer- 
salist maintaining, that they are means and of 
course limited, so far, at least, as individual actions 
are concerned, or the aggregate of any number are 
concerned ; while the believer in the doctrine of 
endless misery holds them to be ends and unlimited 
in duration. The position is as if one should 

* Tract 224, pp. 10, 11. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 81 

maintain, that all the penalties attached to the penal 
code of a statute, were no punishments for crime, 
except such as are capital; than which a greater 
absurdity could not be maintained. 

So in regard to the matter of probation, which 
I suppose means trial, I have but a few words to 
say. If I understand this doctrine as commonly 
held, I regard it as equally inconsistent with the 
Bible as with Universalism. I cannot regard this 
as a state, where men are neither rewarded or pun- 
ished, and the next one where there is nothing but 
rewards and punishments. As for this state, it is 
not so, if the Bible is true, or any reliance is to be 
placed upon human observation and experience; 
and surely it will be difficult to make out, from the 
Scriptures or otherwise, that the future is purely 
and solely a state of rewards and punishments, for 
human doings in this world. I have been accus- 
tomed to think, and certainly the most obvious 
appearance upon the face of the Scriptures, and the 
actual state of things as presented to human experi- 
ence and observation, confirm the impression, — that 
this state of existence is quite as much a condition 
of discipline as of trial; for most assuredly, men 
are in some degree at least, if not fully, rewarded 
and punished here for their doings. And in regard 
to a future state, it may w T ell be asked, if it is 
entirely a state of retribution upon the present, how 
and when are men to be rewarded and punished for 



S2 uni verbalist's assistant. 

their doings in that state ? for I suppose they will 
be active beings there, as well as here. For one, 
although I can understand how men may be 
rewarded and punished in the future life, and thus 
that life be a retribution upon the present, so that 
they may be rewarded according to their works 
done here, I cannot understand how it can be so, 
when man's whole existence is taken into the ac- 
count, upon the supposition that this retribution is 
endless. For there is the whole of their doings 
through that endless retribution, for which no retri- 
bution is provided,^ unless, indeed, we suppose the 
human soul in the world of spirits, is converted 
into a thing as passive and inert as the stones in 
the fields, or the clods of the valley. This I am 
not aware that any one will admit. 

The truth is, no state into which a human being 



* " There is no way by which this conclusion can be 
evaded, but by supposing, that men and devils in hell are 
incapable of sinning, or that the sins which tl ey commit 
there, do not incur any additional punishment. But neither 
of these positions can be maintained. That men whose 
nature is sinful, and who by long custom have formed invet- 
erate habits of sinning, when removed to another world, 
should cease to commit sin, is an unreasonable supposition ; 
and to suppose that sin, in a future state, does not incur the 
curse of the law or the displeasure of God, is equally unrea- 
sonable. God, from the holiness of his nature, must hate 
sin wherever it appears, and he always acts agreeably to 
his nature. To suppose men in hell divested of their moral 
agency, would be to suppose them in such a condition, as 
scarcely to be capable of suffering for their sins." Tract 
against Universalism, American Tract No. 350, p. 5. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 83 

can be transferred, can be simply and solely a 
state of retribution upon a past state, so long as 
man is an active and a morally accountable being ; 
because, in such a case, he must be every moment, 
the subject of praise or blame, of reward or punish- 
ment, neither of which can he receive for his 
doings in a purely retributory state, which looks 
only to the past, if that state is of endless duration. 
And if man is not a morally accountable being in 
any state, he is not susceptible of reward or pun- 
ishment, either for the past or the present, in that 
state. So that, if the common doctrine of probation 
is admitted, it "is inconsistent with the character 
of God as a rewarder," so far as relates to the future 
state, at least ; and he " is an indifferent spectator of 
the conduct of men ; neither loving holiness nor 
hating sin ; neither rewarding the righteous, nor 
punishing the wicked." 

But could it be made out, that God is a rewarder 
of men, in any sense, upon the hypothesis of end- 
less punishment, it cannot be maintained for a mo- 
ment, that he is an equitable rewarder of them ; 
for to say nothing of the infinite disproportion 
between finite sins and an infinite punishment, 
there is great inequality, when viewed in its indi- 
vidual relations and bearings. There are all possi- 
ble grades of character among men, varying from 
the worst to the best. And yet, according to the 
doctrine in question, mankind are to be divided 



84 universalist's assistant. 

into two and only two classes, the one to be infinitely 
and endlessly rewarded, and the other infinitely 
and endlessly punished. In other words, those 
who have scarcely virtue enough to keep them out 
of hell, and those who have climbed to the highest 
point of excellence, are to be rewarded precisely 
alike ; and that the man who has almost goodness 
enough to secure his admittance into heaven, and 
the blood-stained pirate and murderer are to share 
the same eternal state ! This is truly such equity 
as the world knoweth not of ! 

The true state of the case, I take to be, that every 
state in which the human soul will ever exist, is a 
state of retribution, both on the present and the 
past, if past there is. An intimate relation subsists 
between the present and all the past. By our 
present, we make our future ; and our future will 
be a retribution upon our past, no matter whether 
we are in this world or that which is to come ; and 
at the same time it will be, in a very important 
sense, a retribution upon that present. In other 
words, our doings and their consequences go hand 
in hand, and at the same time reach back, and 
take hold of the past, as a cause, and forward, and 
take hold of the future in their consequences. 



So 



MERCY. 

" It denies the mercy of God. and sinks the grace of the 
gospel into an empty parade of high sounding words. It is 
asserted by Universalists, that the * wicked receive a pun- 
ishment proportioned to their crimes;' 'that all the hell 
there, is inevitably certain to the wicked ;' that their suffer- 
ings l ever will be in exact ratio to the measure and magni- 
tude of sin.' " # 



If Universalists err in maintaining such a doc- 
trine as this, they certainly have very respectable 
authority for it, for surely, no doctrine stands 
out with greater distinctness and prominence, or is 
insisted on with greater emphasis, in the Scrip- 
tures, and particularly in the New Testament, than 
that men are to be rewarded according to their 
works. Its language is — " For the Son of man 
shall come in the glory of his Father, with his 
angels, and then he shall reward every man accord- 
ing to his works" 't "But he that doeth wrong 
shall receive for the wrong which he hath done; 
and th-re is no respect of persons "X So that, if 
Universalism is to be condemned for maintaining 
such an idea, the Bible must share the same fate 



* Tract 224, p. 49. 

t Matt. 16 : 27. Rom. 2 : 6. Rev. 20 : 13 : 22 : 12. 

% Col. 3 : 25. 

8 



86 universalist's assistant. 

In such company, Universalists are content to stand 
or fall. 

Beside, it may be remarked, that this objection is 
the directly opposite of another one, we sometimes 
hear from the same quarter, viz., "that a God all 
mercy, is a God unjust;" and here we have it, " a 
God all justice, is a God unmerciful. " Now both 
these objections originate from viewing the same 
idea from different positions, and under different 
aspects, and are founded upon the mistaken notion, 
that justice and mercy are two opposite and antago- 
nistic^! principles, which cannot harmonize in the 
same person or being. And yet, the Bible every- 
where maintains, that God is just and at the same 
time merciful. 

I am free to confess, that if Universalists held 
with the objector, that punishment is merely and 
solely vindicatory, if not vindictive, that it is an end; 
and that a specific amount of punishment is to be 
inflicted for sin, and that too, without any reference 
to the good of the offender, this objection would be 
invested with great force and power. But believ- 
ing as Universalists do, that punishment is a means 
in the hands of God, by which he aims to promote 
human good, and even that of the transgressor 
himself; that all divine retribution is parental in its 
character ; that every man deserves and will receive 
so much, and so much punishment only, as will 
secure the great ends of all righteous retribution ; 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 87 

that the duration and the severity of that punishment, 
which each individual will receive, depends not so 
much upon the specific amount of wrong that he may- 
have committed, as upon the depravity and perversity 
of his heart, and the perseverance with which he 
resists the demands of God's law, this objection is 
divested of all its force, and falls most harmless to 
the ground. Every candid and fair-minded man 
must see, that, under such a view, there is nothing 
unmerciful in causing men to suffer precisely accord- 
ing to their works, more than there is in an earthly 
parent's firmly subjecting his wayward and stubborn 
child to a system of discipline, of which punishment 
constitutes a part, until his stubbornness is subdued, 
and he is reclaimed from his waywardness. Ac- 
cording to this view, justice and mercy act in per- 
fect harmony, and both conspire to the same great 
end, — the highest and best good of all souls. And 
hence we read — " Mercy and truth are met toge- 
ther; righteousness and peace have kissed each 
other." *" " Also unto thee, Lord, belongeth 
mercy ; for thou renderest to every man according 
to his work"f 

*Ps. 85: 10. tB°- 6 2: 12, 



88 universalist's assistant. 



SECTION VII. GOD TREATS THE RIGHTEOUS WORSE 

THAN THE WICKED. 

" Umversalism represents God as often treating wicked 
men far better than he does the righteous. The wicked, it 
is said, do "not live out half their days." They die in the 
midst of their pilgrimage, and are taken directly to heaven ; 
whilst the righteous are left to linger out, in this vale of 
tears, the full term of their earthly being, and arrive late at 
the kingdom of heaven." # 

This objection is illustrated by a reference to 
several examples. It is said, " On this principle, 
how much more highly favored were the antedilu- 
vians than Noah ! . . . . Lot, too, would have fared 
far better than he did, had he have been as wicked 

as the Sodomites How unfortunate was it 

for Moses, that he belonged to the people of God, 
rather than the Egyptians ! . . . . How much hap- 
pier was Judas than the other apostles !"t 

This objection is founded upon an entire mis- 
representation of Universalism, as may be seen by a 
reference to the explanation on a previous page.t 
It proceeds upon the supposition, that Universalism 
is the belief that all men enter a state of perfect feli- 
city immediately after the death of the body. But 
it is not so. Universalism is the belief that all men 
will become righteous, and in consequence happy. 
I know, indeed, that some Universalists hold to that 
idea ; but it makes no part of Universalism. It is a 

* Tract 221. pp. 49—50. f Ibid. % PP- 8—13. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 89 

mere adjunct, an incidental idea, an occasional and 
unnecessary appendage. 

With this correction, I might let the objection 
drop ; but for the sake of the argument, I am willing 
to accept the objection as stated by the author, in its 
fullest force, and then I remark, 

1. That most men of intelligence and virtue are 
in the habit of regarding this world as rather a plea- 
sant dwelling-place to the virtuous and good, not- 
withstanding its labors, crosses and trials, instead of 
being so dark, dismal and wretched a place, that to 
live in it is a curse. With all its discomforts and 
offensive things, it is a state where the good enjoy 
vastly more than they suffer ; and hence they are 
willing to remain here all their appointed days, and 
that, too, without regarding it a very severe punish- 
ment, even in the most unfavorable cases. At any 
rate, such people generally prefer to remain here the 
full measure of their days, rather than be hurried 
away by drowning, burning or hanging. Indeed, 
most sober and rational men regard the- amount of 
happiness allotted to man and all other creatures, in 
this world, as so much overbalancing the misery they 
are necessitated to suffer, that it affords a very deci- 
sive testimony for divine goodness, even considered 
irrespective of another state. 

2. I remark, that the whole point and force of 
this objection lies in the implied idea, that if a man 
is sure of going immediately to heaven at death , it 



90 universalist's assistant. 

is desirable, so far as the individual himself is con- 
cerned, that he should be cut off from the earth as 
soon as possible, and so sent the earlier to heaven ! 
that the man who should shoot, hang, drown or 
burn such an individual, would perform for him a 
most benevolent deed ! Hence, the following extra- 
ordinary language is put into the mouth of one of 
the most bloody pirates that ever swung into heaven 
by a halter.^ " I devoted my life to the simple and 
benevolent business of aiding my brethren, my kins- 
men according to the flesh, up to paradise, by the 
quickest and gentlest means ! "t 

Now it is maintained, that all true Christians are 
sure of going to heaven as soon as they are divested 
of this mortal body. This, I suppose, will be admit- 
ted on all hands. At any rate, it is very strenuously 
held to by those who urge the objection under con- 
sideration against Universalism. If, therefore, there 
is any force in this objection, it would be a blessing 
to such persons, should the government put them, as 
soon as they become Christians, into the hands of a 
public executioner, to be shot, hanged, drowned or 

# Allusion is here had to the noted Gibbs, and to the cir- 
cumstance of his being attended upon the gallows by a 
number of clergymen, who gave him and those who 
witnessed his execution, if my memory serves me right, the 
assurance, that they believed him fully prepared for heaven, 
into which they believed he would immediately enter ! This 
is a common occurrence, if it was not so in that case. And 
yet these same men can hold up their hand in pious horror at 
Universalism, and denounce it as licentious in its tendency ! ! 

t Tract 362, p. 8. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 91 

burned, that they might the sooner get to heaven I 
or should the Almighty send a flood and drown, or 
his thunder-bolts and blast them, and so take them 
home to himself ! This is a way of blessing Chris- 
tians, I am inclined to think, which would not be so 
much coveted by most people, as greatly to multiply 
the converts to Christianity; for I apprehend the 
greater part of our race are so stupid, that it would 
be very difficult to convince them, that it is a greater 
blessing to die an early and violent death — to be 
thrust out of the world by the hands of the public 
executioner or the visitations of the Almighty, even 
if they do get to heaven a little earlier, than to live 
l v o a good old age, die a natural death, in their own 
beds, surrounded by their friends, and in peace and 
hope, although it may bring them late to heaven ! 

Thus it will be seen, that this objection lies as 
much against every system of faith which maintains 
that any man will exist and be happy immediately 
after death, as against Universalism ; and more so 
against those systems of belief which represent the 
path of the sinner, in this life, as strown with flowers, 
while that of the just is hedged up with thorns. If 
the good man has so painful a path to tread ; if his 
joys are so few and his trials so many, that he 
would have no inducement to struggle against 
temptation and sin; to practise the self-denial re- 
quired ; and to perform the great duties of life, but 
for the assurance of eternal blessedness as his re- 



92 universalist's assistant. 

ward ; and if after all rue may fall from grace and 
perish everlastingly, what more benevolent deed 
could be done, than to hasten them out of this miser- 
able world as soon as they are in grace ? And then 
how unmerciful is the Almighty, to doom them to 
such a fate, instead of taking them home to heaven ! 
3. We will now present a few examples from the 
Scriptures, as an offset to those named by the objec- 
tor. " How much better did the Jews treat our 
Saviour and his followers, than their own children ! 
Those, they sent early to heaven ; these, they left 
to the intolerable curse of a long life! Herod 
showed a striking partiality towards the innocent 
babes of Bethlehem, by taking them off to heaven at 
one fell swoop, while their less indulgent mothers 
would have detained them upon earth," * to drag 
out a miserable existence, and perhaps, go to hell at 
last! 



SECTION VIII. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FOR- 
GIVENESS. 

" It is manifest that, upon this scheme, sinners can neither 
receive forgiveness through the blood of Christ, nor in any 
other way ; for having suffered the proper penalty of the 
law, they have a right to deliverance on the footing of 
justice, "t 

This objection lies not merely against Univer- 
salism, but against every view of the divine govern- 

* Reply to Dr. Hawes. p. 71. f Tract 362, p. 4. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 93 

ment, which maintains that the subjects of salva- 
tion are anywhere to be punished for their sins. 
For, if the infliction of punishment for sin, when 
applied to the subjects of salvation, is inconsistent 
with the doctrine of salvation by grace, then all such 
persons are exempted from all liability to punish- 
ment, however numerous and detestable their crimes, 
no matter whether the number saved be few or 
many. So that the objector must either give up this 
objection, or maintain that some sinners are in no 
danger of being punished for their sins. 

The objection is founded, also, in entirely wrong 
conceptions of the views of Universalists, relative to 
the nature of punishment. It is based upon the 
idea that punishment, under the divine government, 
is merely vindicatory if not vindictive ; that a specific 
amount of punishment is inflicted for a specific 
amount of wrong doing ; that they regard punish- 
ment as merely and solely retrospective, only with 
an eye to the past, or as inflicted for no other reason 
than that the individual has sinned. It is only on 
this supposition, that the declaration could be made ; 
that after " having suffered the proper penalty of the 
law, they have a right to deliverance on the footing 
of justice." 

I need tell no one who is tolerably acquainted 
with the views of Universalists, that they entertain 
no such opinions. As has once before been re- 



94 universalist's assistant. 

marked,^ they do not believe that a specific amount 
of punishment is due for a specific amount of wrong 
and sin ; but that every man deserves and that he 
will be punished until he reforms, and that when re- 
formation is secured, each and every individual has 
been punished according to his deeds, however di- 
verse the specific proportions, between the evil done 
and the misery suffered; for they regard all just 
and equitable punishment, under the moral govern- 
ment of God, as prospective — not looking so much 
at what is passed, as to what is to come ; not inflict- 
ing pain so much because the individual has done 
wrong and sinned, as to prevent his doing so any 
more. It is one part of that great system of means 
which God has ordained, to reclaim the wayward 
children of men ; but it is not the principal or the 
most efficient means of attaining this end. Of itself, 
it could not reclaim a single soul. It is only by its 
being attended by the grace of God, as manifested 
in the life, sufferings, death and resurrection of Jesus 
Christ, that punishment becomes an agent in the 
redemption and salvation of men. Without this, it 
might serve only to irritate, harden and render the 
individual more* reckless and desperate in the way 
of sin and iniquity. 

But while punishment is prospective, and looks 
mainly to the future for its object, pardon or for- 
giveness is mainly retrospective, and is granted 

*In tnis work, above, pp. 86 — 7. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 95 

only on repentance. And the necessity of it lies 
in the circumstance, that although we may have 
been punished for our sins, and been exercised with 
the most deep and pungent sorrow for them, and 
most thoroughly reformed, yet all this does not 
make amends for the mischief our wrong acts may 
have done, nor remove the guilt we have incurred, 
from our souls. It is the office of pardon or forgive- 
ness to accomplish this work, and place us before 
God as though we had never sinned, and as free 
from feelings of guilt, that we may begin the world 
anew, with new aims and object, new purposes and 
pursuits, and in a new course of life. Thus do 
punishment and forgiveness harmonize ; thus it is, 
that all the world is guilty before God ; and thus 
that no man can claim the blessedness of heaven, 
as a matter of right, a demand of justice. These 
principles apply to all worlds under the government 
of the Infinite Father ; as truly to the present as 
the future, and to the future as to the present ; for 
the laws of the Almighty are immutable and 
eternal. They are " without variableness or the 
shadow of turning," like his own nature. 



D6 universalist's assistant. 



SECTION IX. THE NECESSITY OF REPENTANCE. 

" Upon the supposition that this doctrine is true, repent- 
ance is useless ; there is no need of religion of any kind j 
no connexion exists between religion and salvation." * 

There is a recklessness of truth and a disregard 
of common sense, as well as of the repeated, asser- 
tions of Universalists, about this objection, which 
hardly entitle it to a serious consideration. Still, it 
is so common an objection, and urged with such a 
wonderful pertinacity, from all quarters, and em- 
braces so wide a range of subjects, that it may not 
be passed in silence, lest it should be supposed that 
it is unanswerable. It is an objection which not 
only applies to religion itself, but to all its applian- 
ces. It assumes, that if the doctrine of universal 
salvation is true, religion itself, worship, and all the 
rites and forms of religion are rendered entirely 
unnecessary, and utterly useless. In reply to this 
I remark, 

1. That this objection is founded in the idea, that 
the number saved will render the means of salvation 
unnecessary. But I would like to know by what 
process of logic this is made out. How is it pos- 
sible that the relative necessity of the use of the 
means of salvation, can be affected by the number 
to be saved ? If certain means are necessary to 

* Tract 350, pp. 22, 23. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 97 

effect the salvation of one man, are they not equally- 
necessary to secure that of all other men ; and 
if these means will attain salvation for one man, 
why will they not secure it for all men ? So if 
religion and all its appliances are necessary to the 
attainment of one man's salvation, and they will 
secure it for him, why are they not equally neces- 
sary, and why may they not secure the salvation 
of every other man ? It surely is so ; and hence, 
whether there is but one man to be saved, or the 
whole race, cannot have any bearing upon the neces- 
sity of means and the use of those means, for the 
attainment of that end. 

2. I remark, that this objection proceeds upon 
the assumption, that Universalists are so ignorant 
and stupid, as to deny all relation between means 
and ends, cause and effect. But I need not tell any 
man of a moderate share of intelligence, and who 
has taken any pains to inform himself, that they 
are not quite so foolish as this, and with their writ- 
ings before him, it must have required an unusual 
share of impudence, and a most reckless hardihood 
in any man, to have deliberately written such a par- 
agraph as that at the head of this section ; for 
everywhere, in their books, must he have seen, 
that no writers ever kept more distinctly in view 
cause and effect, or more strenuously contended 
for the most intimate relation between means and 

ends. 

9 



98 • universalist's assistant. 

The fact is, Universalists believe as much in 
the necessity of the use of means to secure salva- 
tion, as any other people. They regard faith and 
repentance as indispensable to its attainment, and 
as fully believe no man can be saved without their 
exercise, as any persons possibly can. No men are 
more thoroughly persuaded that no flesh can be 
saved, nor a single soul exalted to heaven, with- 
out the use of the appropriate means furnished by 
divine grace — the use of religion and all its appli- 
ances — the exercise of faith and repentance, the 
fruit of religion, than are all serious and reflecting 
Universalists. Were this not the case, why should 
they erect churches at so great cost, and sometimes 
sacrifice of time and means, maintain the preaching 
of the word and all the ordinances of religion in 
those churches, and endow and maintain Sabbath 
Schools ? Their very doings, known and read of 
all men, are proof enough, in the absence of all 
other, that they so regard the matter. 

I know, indeed, that men of shallow brains and 
corrupt hearts may, and undoubtedly have perverted 
and abused this doctrine, to its disgrace and scandal, 
and their own destruction, as they have every other 
good thing. But Universalists are not alone in being 
cursed and scourged with such hangers-on, nor with 
having a peculiarity of their faith held in unrigh- 
teousness, or used for base and unworthy purposes, 
as the writings and experience of all sects prove. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. • 99 

The precise difference between those who hold to 
a numerically limited, and those who believe in uni- 
versal salvation, is, that these last believe, that the 
means of salvation ordained of Heaven, shall be 
universally efficient, while the former hold they 
will be but partially so. In other words, Univer- 
salists believe, that it is by all men being led to the 
exercise of faith and repentance, through the influ- 
ence of religion, the sanctification of their hearts 
and lives, and the pardon obtained through Jesus 
Christ, that all souls are to be saved and exalted to 
everlasting blessedness. They hold that the means 
which will redeem, save, and render eternally happy 
one soul, will redeem, save, and render everlastingly 
blessed all souls. 

But was it, as some Universalists hold, that there 
is no connexion between the present conduct of men 
and their future condition, still religion would be of 
great consequence to mankind. Even blot out the 
idea of a future existence, and suppose this world 
is the ultima thule, the utmost bound of human ex- 
istence ; that the dissolution of the mortal body 
is the utter and everlasting extinction of the en- 
tire man, of the me, as the Transcendentalists 
would say, and is religion of no value or impor- 
tance to man ? However much such views may 
lessen its value and importance, I maintain, it is 
of immense value for the promotion of the present 
interests and happiness of mankind, both in their 



100 universalist's assistant. 

individual and social relations, in this world. To 
maintain, that all the value and importance of reli- 
gion consists in its affording the means of escape 
from the flames of hell, is to degrade it quite as 
much as to maintain, that it will exert no influence 
extending beyond this short life, this preface, this 
introduction to our being. The former converts 
religion into a mere article of merchandize, while 
the latter, if the worst is said of it that can be, 
merely ascribes to it an influence much more lim- 
ited than it really exerts. 

Our view is neither the one nor the other of 
these. I cannot regard religion, or the exercise of 
faith and repentance, or the observance of its rites 
and forms, a mere device to escape everlasting per- 
dition. This is a low and unworthy view of its 
nature and objects. Nor can I consider it as exert- 
ing so narrow and limited an influence as some 
imagine, although I should agree with them, as to 
the nature, character and the objects of that influ- 
ence, so far as they extend. But they confine them 
within too narrow limits — limits which greatly di- 
minish the necessity and importance of the exercise 
of faith and repentance, and the observance of the 
rites and forms of religion. My view is that all 
these things contribute to the formation of character, 
and that the character we form here will determine 
our condition upon our entrance into the world of 
spirits ; which condition can be changed only by a 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 101 

change of the character. It is that ultimate result of 
the habits of thought, feeling and action upon the 
soul itself, which we call character, not the external 
circumstances of the individual, that determines the 
essential happiness or misery of every human being, 
no matter where they are — whether in this world 
or in the future. 



SECTION X. UNIVERSALISM NOT NEEDED BY THE 

TRUE CHRISTIAN. 

" It cannot be concealed, and perhaps will not be denied, 
that the primary motive which has led men to Universalism, 
is the desire of removing from the minds of worldly or 
wicked men, the dreadful apprehension of endless torments. 
I say worldly and wicked men, for the true Christian does 
not need this doctrine for his consolation. He is safe with- 
out it."* 

" The wicked and worldly" are a class of persons, 
who concern themselves very little about any reli- 
gious views whatever. All they suffer from fear, 
arising out of any religious theories or doctrines, or 
enjoy either, is exceedingly small indeed. Their 
minds are too much absorbed in the outward and 
material, in the gratification of their physical appe- 
tites and passions, to think or care much about 

* Tract 350, p. 7. Lee on Universalism, p. 298. 
9* 



102 universalist's assistant. 

doctrines or articles of belief, or even what may 
await them hereafter. Such men are disturbed just 
as little by the doctrine of endless misery, as they 
are comforted by that of universal salvation. Gal- 
lio like, they care for none of these things, neither 
are they moved by them. This is manifest, from the 
circumstance before stated,^ that the more wicked a 
community is, the less does Universalism prevail ; 
and also from the fact that all the most horrible 
pirates and murderers that have disgraced and out- 
raged humanity, and scourged human society, with 
whose history I am acquainted, were born and 
educated, and remained undoubting believers in end- 
less misery, all their lives long, not doubting, when 
at last they were brought upon the scaffold, that the 
halter would as surely hasten their entrance into 
heaven, on an equality with the holy apostles and 
prophets, and the spirits of just men made perfect, 
as it would their exit out of this world ; and this too, 
while they had as little doubt, that myriads of their 
race, who lead blameless and even useful lives, who 
speak the language of kindness to their friends ; 
who give useful instruction to their children, and 
salutary advice to their neighbors ; who " have fed 
the hungry, and clothed the naked, and attended, 
with decency, the public worship of God,"t would 
surely be eternally damned ! And the most melan- 

*p. 63. 

\ National Preach., Vol. iv., p. 222 ; No. for Aug:.. 1829 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 103 

choly consideration of all is, that clergymen can be 
found, who can and will stand on the scaffold, and 
encourage them in such a delusion, and publish it to 
the world, as they have ! What need have such 
men of Universalism to save them from fear ? Pro- 
vision is made for them in its opposite, in a far more 
ample degree, than Universalism dares to promise. 
Few of its preachers could be found, who would 
stand upon the scaffold, beside a monster so defiled 
with sin and crime, that the loathing earth would no 
longer endure his presence, and encourage him to 
think, however deep and sincere his repentance, that 
the eternal world will open upon his soul with as 
bright glories and as high enjojnnents, as upon that 
of the martyred Stephen or the sainted John ; or tell 
the motley crew, assembled to witness his execution, 
that he so believed. Universalism has no such 
comforts for those who have devoted their lives to 
vice and crime, and the commission of the foulest 
abominations, when about to be thrust out of the 
world by the executioner's hand ; while it refuses 
the hope of future bliss to those who lead virtuous, 
good and useful lives, and at last, in a good old age, 
close their earthly pilgrimage, in their own beds, 
surrounded by their families and friends ! 

And then, in regard to the statement that " the 
true Christian does not need this doctrine for his 
consolation," I do not know but it may be so. If it 
is thus, I would like to know how many among the 



104 

believers in endless misery would be found true 
Christians, when brought to this test. What are the 
facts ? Do we not on all hands hear the confession, 
from those persons, that they are constantly haunted 
with doubts and fears as to what may be their con- 
dition in another world ; and do not much the larger 
portion of the believers in this terrible doctrine, 
rather yield themselves up to fate, with a vague and 
indefinite hope that God will treat them kindly after 
their bodies die, than have a firm and unwavering 
faith in future bliss, that triumphs in the hour of 
mortal dissolution ? If such is not the fact, how are 
we to explain the circumstance, that it has come to be 
a doctrine of these people, that doubts and fears con- 
cerning our future prospects are an evidence of oui 
piety ? Why are individuals told, as I know they 
have been, that they have good reason to doubt the 
genuineness of their piety, because such was the 
strength of their faith, that they were not troubled 
with doubts and fears V& 

Beside, " true Christians" are not so superlatively 
selfish, as to care nothing about the fate of others, if 
so be, that they are safe themselves. Such persons 
feel as deep an interest in the salvation of other 
men, as they do in their own ; for they love their 

* "But, lately, the very absence of doubt has caused me 
to doubt ; for if I were a child of God, how should I be free 
from those doubts which trouble his children?" Life of 
Payson, p. 54, American Tract Soc. Ed. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 105 

neighbor as themselves. No " true Christian" can 
be satisfied with a hope merely for himself. He 
wants a hope for others, to give him all the " conso- 
lation " he needs ; yea, for everybody. When a true 
Christian, who believes the doctrine u of endless tor- 
ments," looks about upon his fellow-men, and sees 
how many, even of his cherished friends, and may 
be his own dearest children, there are, for whom he 
can indulge no hope, according to his received faith, 
what anxiety and fear seizes upon his mind, upon 
their account, if not on his own ! What bitterness 
of soul is caused to the purest and best of those 
among the believers of this fearful doctrine, on ac- 
count of the want of a hope, that will encircle in its 
embrace all their kindred and friends ! Can it be 
said then, in truth, of Universalism, that " the true 
Christian does not want this doctrine for his con- 
solation," although " he is safe without it ? " If he 
is safe without it, others, and may be his best 
friends, and his own children, are not. 

The truth is, it is not the wicked and the worldly, 
but the most serious minded, the purest and best men, 
who suffer the most from the belief of the doctrine of 
" eternal torments ;" and the more serious, thought- 
ful, devout and tender-hearted he is ; or, in other 
words, the more truly Christian his soul becomes, 
the more will this awful idea harass and torment his 
mind. 



106 universalist's assistant. 



SECTION XI. TJNIVERSALISM PLEASING TO THE CAR- 
NAL HEART. 

The doctrine of universal salvation is calculated to 
" please and gratify the desires of the natural heart." 

The natural heart is a, heart that is as God made 
it, before it has become Hardened and corrupted by- 
error, passion and sin. That such a heart, all full 
of benevolence and kindness, would be pleased with 
the idea of the final return of all souls to God and 
the enjoyments of heaven, I cannot doubt; nor do I 
regard it as a very serious objection to any doctrine, 
that it is agreeable to the desires of such a heart. I 
know, indeed, all men are destitute of such hearts, 
until their souls are renovated by the sanctifying 
power of the gospel of Christ. Their minds may 
perceive the beauty of this idea, in an unregenerate 
state, while their hearts are estranged from God, and 
under the perverting and stupefying power of sin ; 
but they cannot feel how excellent it is, until they 
have been converted and become like little children. 
Then, when the individual looks about him, and 
sees how much sin and misery there is in the world, 
it is a delight to his heart to hope and believe, that 
a time will come, when all this misery, and the sin 
which is its cause, shall come to an end, and those 
held in its slavery, brought into the glorious liberty 
of the sons of God, and every heart attuned in har- 
mony with the great Heart of the universe. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 107 

I am aware, however, that this is not what is 
meant by the phrase " natural heart" in the objection 
under consideration. I know it is intended to con- 
vey the same idea as the apostle does by the phrase 
"carnal mind." What sort of a mind is this? 
This can be determined the best from the works it 
does, which we will let the same apostle describe. 
" Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 
idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, 
wrath, strife, seditions, divisions, envyings, mur- 
ders, drunkenness, re vilings, and suchlike."^ It 
is the opposite of the spiritual mind, whose fruits 
are " love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, 
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance."! 

Such, then, is the carnal mind. It is a mind 
under the control of unworthy and corrupt principles 
and feelings Does Universalism coincide with the 
views and feelings of an individual in such a state 
of mind? To answer this question there is no 
necessity of going into any long process of reason- 
ing. Universalism has already been defined, X and 
in view of that definition, we may appeal directly to 
facts. Does not the fact, that the more ignorant and 
depraved any community is, the less Universalism 
prevails,^ have a strong bearing upon this point? 
Does not this circumstance go to prove, most conclu- 



* Gal. 5 : 19—21. f Gal. 5 : 22, 23. 

if pp. 8— 13. § See p. 63. 



108 universalist's assistant. 

sively, that Universalism does not harmonize with 
the desires and feelings of the carnal heart ? If it is 
not so, how happens it, that the greatest success at- 
tends the efforts to extend this doctrine, in the most 
enlightened and virtuous communities, and the least, 
yea that all efforts are nearly abortive, in communi- 
ties of a different character ? 

Beside this, go to the proud, the haughty, the 
tyrannical, the malicious and the hating, and preach 
Universalism to them ; tell them that God is as well 
disposed toward those they despise, contemn, hate 
and trample upon, and that Christ has done as much 
for their salvation, and that they will be brought 
down to a level, and perhaps thrust below these per- 
sons, in the world to come, and will it please and 
gratify their hearts? Go to an individual whose 
soul is in a storm of passion, and preach to him that 
the object of his rage is his brother, and destined to 
the realms of everlasting blessedness, and will the 
idea harmonize with the feelings of his heart ? Not 
at all. The desire of his heart will be to hurl the 
thunder-bolts of heaven at those with whom he is 
offended. Hence, how often do we hear the remark, 
" Were it not for such and such men, I should be a 
Universalist ! There ought to be a hell for such 
men ; and if they are going to heaven, I do not wish 
to go there ! " When in fact the persons concern- 
ing whom the remarks are made, are really better 
men than the individual who makes them. Upon 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSHERED. 109 

this point we might fairly turn the tables upon those 
who believe the doctrine of endless misery. That 
fearful doctrine perfectly harmonizes with the feel- 
ings and wishes of a man burning with wrath and 
vengeance. And hence, when an individual be- 
comes angry with any one, he at once falls to curs- 
ing and damning him to hell, or, in the language of 
Rev. Mr. McClure, " They (Universalists) commonly 
swear Orthodox oaths. Of this fact everybody is 
aware. Let them get angry, and you hear nothing 
but hell, and the devil, and damnation."^ 



SECTION XII. A UNIVERSALIST MEETING IN A NEW 

PLACE. 

"Who are they that usually compose the audience of a 
Universalist preacher ? Are they the most sober and intel- 
ligent part of the community ? . . . . Are they not rather 
those whom the Bible would designate as wicked, prayer- 
less, impenitent, irreligious persons ; those who make a 
mock of experimental religion, and habitually neglect the 
duties of practical piety ? " f 

If this is applied to the established congregations 
of the Universalist denomination, a fouler and more 

# Lectures on TJniversalism, Lecture 2, first Edition. In 
his second edition he struck out this confession, so full of 
truth, because so much to the discredit of his own theology, 
and in honor of TJniversalism ; for it is an admission that a 
Universalist cannot swear consistently with his faith. 

t Tract 224, p. 54-5, and p. 7, et seq. 

10 



no 

malicious and slanderous libel could not be uttered, 
than is implied in these questions, and the state- 
ments to which they refer. For respectability, 
intelligence, and virtue, their congregations will not 
suffer, when compared with any of those professing 
the doctrine of endless punishment. But if these 
questions relate merely to the congregations which 
come together \he first time a Universalist preacher 
makes his appearance in a place, and particularly in 
a large town, I am free to confess the implication 
contains considerable truth, though not fully cor- 
rect. And the question arises — Why is it so ? 
How does it happen ? I do not hesitate to charge 
it all upon the unrighteous representations made of 
Universalism, by those who oppose it. This I will 
now attempt to show. 

In the first place, I remark negatively, that these 
deists, profane swearers, neglecters of public wor- 
ship, violators of the Sabbath, lewd, intemperate 
and loose persons, who come together to listen to 
the first promulgation of Universalism in a place, 
cannot be influenced by the ideas of the doctrine, as 
understood and promulgated by its believers, because 
they have had no opportunity to become acquainted 
with it, from this source. % Whence, then, did they 
derive their notions about this doctrine, which they 
construe into a justification of their vile and unprin- 
cipled course of conduct ? There is but one source 
from which they could possibly have derived their 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. Ill 

notions of it, from the very circumstances of the 
case, and that is, from its enemies, in the occasional 
warnings against it, and the descriptions of its 
dreadful character, from pulpits opposed to it, and 
from tracts and books, written more for the purpose 
of bringing odium upon, than confuting it. 

Now, I maintain, that these shameless caricatures 
of Universalism, are just what is calculated to please 
and gratify the vilest of mankind ; to encourage 
them to continue in their sins ; and lead them to 
expect a Universalist meeting, to be a grand rally 
of the kingdom of Satan. Just look at the way in 
which it is represented. People are told that Uni- 
versalists preach that the foulest whelp of sin, the 
moment he dies, will go right into heaven, without 
the slightest change of character, all reeking with 
the pollutions of sin and iniquity, direct from the 
filthiest and most abominable stews of the realm of 
sin, to be the companions of holy apostles, and 
prophets, and the spirits of just men made perfect; 
that it will make no difference what men do, if they 
only contrive to keep out of the hands of the civil 
authority; and finally, that the sinner is just as 
well off, if not much better, than the righteous. 
And sometimes it is recommended to men, if they 
believe Universalism, that they plunge into all 
manner of sin ; that they run riot with iniquity, and 
when tired of this dignified and worthy amusement, 
to hasten their entrance into paradise, with the use 



112 universalist's assistant. 

of the pistol, the halter, the water, or by poison in 
some form. 

What could be more pleasing to the vilest, most 
shameless and debauched of mankind, whose hearts 
are fully set upon doing evil, than such notions ? 
and what more alarming to the friends of good order, 
sobriety, morality and religion ? Such sentiments 
most undoubtedly strengthen the hands of the 
wicked, and make sad the hearts of the righteous. 
Hence, in all places where little or nothing is 
known of Universalism, except from its enemies, all 
the most worthless and abandoned men in the com- 
munity, swear they are Universalists ; and if an 
appointment happens to be made in the place, they 
are in ecstacies, fully anticipating, that they shall be 
confirmed and strengthened in the unhallowed 
views they have of Universalism, and thus be 
encouraged in their course of rain and death. And 
the minister, ignorant of the actual state of things, 
may be instrumental, in some degree, of confirming 
these impressions, by devoting all his energies to 
proving the single point of universal salvation. 
But who is responsible for all this mischief? J 
answer, its enemies. 

That such is the case, # is fully proved by the 
fact, that if, in process of time, a Universalist min- 
ister should be settled in that same place, where all 
the dens of sin were filled with rejoicing at the 
idea of having a Universalist meeting, these same 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 113 

persons will soon change their tune, and instead of 
being constant, punctual and zealous patrons, sup- 
porters and attendants of the meetings, their zeal 
will begin to cool ; they will begin to be only occa- 
sional attendants, and finally abandon the meeting 
altogether, muttering that it is not what they ex- 
pected, or swearing outright, that " this Universalist 

minister is worse than the Orthodox ! " 

With these startling facts before us, I ask, who is 
responsible for this temporary encouragement, given 
to these miserable persons, in their course of sin and 
iniquity, and which would have been permanent, 
but for an opportunity being presented to the 
believers of Universalism, to speak for themselves ? 
Not its friends surely ; for as soon as they secured 
a fair opportunity to be heard, these delusions were 
soon dispelled. But it is chargeable entirely to its 
enemies ; and this wretched delusion would have 
remained upon the minds of these miserable sinners, 
and they have derived encouragement from what 
they supposed to be Universalism, until the light 
of the eternal world dawned upon their souls, if its 
friends and believers had not have secured the 
opportunity of dissipating it. And this is undoubt- 
edly the case, in multitudes of places, where the 
enemies of Universalism hold undisturbed dominion. 
Multitudes of persons are sent blindfold to per- 
dition, from such places, by the misrepresentations 
and caricatures of this doctrine. 
10* 



114 universalist's assistant. 

Could I reach the ears of those ministers, who 
indulge in these misrepresentations of Universalism, 
I would tell them, they are not only incurring the 
guilt of slander, by pursuing such a course and 
indulging in this kind of opposition ; but perverting 
and corrupting public morals, by strengthening the 
hands of the wicked, and giving them encourage- 
ment and comfort in their sins. And I would beg 
of them to entirely change the character of their 
opposition, if not from the fear of God, from regard 
to man and the morals of society. If they do not, 
sure I am, that the light of eternity will make sad 
revelations to their souls, and they will have a fear- 
ful account to render, at the bar of the Almighty. 



115 



CHAPTER III. 

THE ORIGINAL WORDS RENDERED EVERLASTING, 
ETERNAL, ETC., CONSIDERED AS AN OBJEC- 
TION TO UNIVERSALISM. 

SECTION I. PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 

In this and the subsequent chapters, I shall exam- 
ine the objection urged against Universalism, drawn 
from the Scriptures, and founded upon the use of the 
words rendered everlasting, eternal, etc., and those 
translated hell, grave, etc., in our common version 
of the Bible. It will be my aim not only to meet 
the arguments, by which the popular interpretation 
of them, is attempted to be sustained, but to show 
affirmatively, the meaning we should attach to them, 
as used in the Scriptures. 

I am aware that this is a subject, which involves 
much learned inquiry, and relates to languages with 
which few of my readers are acquainted, or even the 
alphabet of which they can read. These are very 
serious obstacles in the way of making the subject 
intelligible to common readers, and enabling them 
to perceive the full force of all the arguments that 
will be used. But I shall endeavor to keep the text 
as free from Hebrew, Greek and Latin words, as the 



116 universalist's assistant. 

nature of the subject will admit, and throw as many 
of the quotations, I shall find it necessary to make, 
in these languages, into notes in the margin, as pos- 
sible, putting only the translation in the text. In 
this way, I hope to free my remarks from much of 
the obscurity, to common minds, which invariably 
attaches to a discussion, when there is a frequent 
recurrence of words in a foreign language. 

My remarks will be confined to the original 
words, rather than to the English rendering of them, 
because the controversy is only in relation to those, 
and the correctness of the English translation of 
them. Had the Scriptures have been written at this 
day, and in the English language, there could have 
been no controversy in relation to the meaning of 
those passages, where these terms occur ; for the 
English words have a well defined and universally 
admitted meaning. But it is not so with regard to 
the original Scriptures. They were written in a re- 
mote country and period of the world's history, amid 
circumstances, scenery, manners, customs and habits 
of thought, modes of expression, and in languages 
widely different, in almost every respect, from our 
own. Hence the necessity of philology and inter- 
pretation, upon the correct use of which, the verity 
and accuracy of all translations do and must depend, 
as all scholars know full well. 

I know, indeed, there is a disposition in a certain 
class of minds, to regard all questions as to the cor- 



THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 117 

rectness of the translation of any words or phrases, 
in our common version of the Scriptures, as tamper- 
ing with the Bible itself ; and I regret to say, that 
too many may be found, who ought to know better, 
if they do not, that are willing, and actually do allow 
themselves to foster this prejudice. But it should 
ever be borne in mind, by all persons, that all trans- 
lations of the Scriptures, are but the fallible judg- 
ment of fallible ??ien, as to the meaning of the 
original ; and of course that their translation is the 
legitimate subject of criticism. A translation of the 
Scriptures has and can have, from the very nature 
of things, no other authority than is imparted to it 
by the abilities, attainments and character of the 
translator or translators^ and their fitness for the 
work. And the accuracy and fidelity of a transla- 
tion can be determined, only by an actual compari- 
son with the original, about the precise meaning of 
which, in many instances, the most impartial, can- 
did and thoroughly qualified may honestly diner. 

The subjects I propose to discuss, in the following 
pages, are those upon which much has been writ- 
ten upon both sides ; and much which the authors 
never thought of, as having a theological bearing, 
but as mere matters of criticism. Hence it will not 
be my aim, nor shall I pretend to present anything 
particularly new or original, upon these subjects. I 
shall aim only to collect, in as brief a space as pos- 
sible, all the information I can command, in relation 



118 

to them, and present the matter in my own way. 
The only merit that will be claimed for this compi- 
lation, for it will be little else, is diligence and 
faithfulness in collecting the materials, and candor 
and impartiality in presenting them. If this is 
secured, I shall attain the height of my ambition, 
and doubtless render a service to my fellow-Chris- 
tians. With the hope that such may be the result, 
the matter is presented to the consideration of all 
candid and intelligent Christians. 



SECTION II. ADMISSIONS 07 THOSE OPPOSED TO TJNI- 

VERSALiSM. 

It is admitted on all hands, that the words aibn 
and aibnios* are " sometimes used to signify a lim- 
ited duration."! This being the case, of course, 
these terms cannot, of themselves, in all cases, 
express an endless duration, nor, indeed, can they 

* The first of these words, auov, is a noun, and the other, 
aidjviog, is an adjective derived from auov. In this discus- 
sion I shall consider these words together, as the same, 
because they evidently bear the same general meaning, 
from their near affinity to each other. In quoting texts, I 
shall make no distinctions, in regard to these words, as a 
general thing. I wish also here to state once for all, that 
when it is necessary to use Greek or Hebrew words in the 
text, I shall put them in English letters, and thus confine 
Hebrew and Greek characters entirely to the notes. I do 
this, that the subject may be the more intelligible to the 
mere English reader. 

t Tract 224 ? p. 16. 



THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 119 

do this in any case, if this admission is correct. 
This sense must be imparted to those terms from 
the subject to which it is applied, or something in 
connexion with it, if they bear this sense at all. 
This seems to be a natural inference from the ad- 
mission made. But it is not so regarded by the 
objector. 

Hence the following rule is laid down by which 
to determine their meaning in such cases as the 
admission is founded upon. " When the word 
aibnios is applied to hills and mountains, as it 
sometimes is in the Bible, we know, from the 
nature of the case, that it has a limited meaning; 
but when applied to things which in their nature 
are capable of an endless duration, and there is 
nothing in the connexion to limit its meaning, we 
are bound to understand it in its unlimited sense. "^ 

Although this rule is framed with an especial 
reference to the case in hand, and quite as much to 
favor the views of the objector as the facts in the 
case will warrant, still it will be seen, after all, that 
he is compelled to admit the principle Universalists 
contend for, much as he has endeavored to cover it 
up, by the unnecessary multiplication of words. 
He admits that the extent of the duration expressed 
by these terms, is to be determined in each individ- 
ual case, by the subject to which they are applied 
and the connexion in which they occur. Even in 

* Tract 224, p. 17. 



120 universalist's assistant. 

those cases where he would seem to pronounce, 
a priori, that they express an endless duration, he 
admits it may be necessary to examine " the con- 
nexion" before the matter can fairly be put to rest, 
or authoritatively determined. 

Thus, while the objector would seem to deny the 
position claimed by the Universalist, he, in effect, 
admits it ; and this admission is all that is needed 
to make out his case, so far as these terms are 
applied to punishment. For with this admission, 
upon all fair logical principles, he has a right to 
assume, that these terms express only a limited 
duration, when applied to punishment, until it is 
shown, that there is something in the nature of 
punishment, or in the connexions where they are 
used, which make it necessary that they should be 
taken in the sense of endless. This is the affirma- 
tive position, which is always the side to be proved. 
It is always illogical and unfair to require any one 
to prove a negative, though it sometimes becomes 
necessary. 

Thus it will be seen, that the whole matter of 
the duration of punishment, so far as these words 
are concerned, might be safely rested upon these 
admissions. But there are other arguments by 
which it is attempted to fix upon these terms, the 
sense of " absolute eternity." Many of these are 
exceedingly plausible to a mere English reader, 



THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 121 

and those who have never gone into a thorough 
investigation of the matter, and they will now claim 
our serious and deliberate attention and consid- 
eration. 



SECTION III. THE ARGUMENTS, BY WHICH IT IS AT- 
TEMPTED TO FIX UPON THE TERMS AION AND 
AIONIOS THE SENSE OF ENDLESS DURATION, CON- 
SIDERED, 

" 1. These terms do, in their original and proper sense, 
denote duration without end. This is evident from their 
derivation; being formed of the two Greek words, aei and 
on ; which properly signify always existing." * 

Now the truth is, there is no such agreement 
among grammarians and lexicographers, in regard 
to the derivation of these terms, as the above state- 
ment implies ; for beside the derivation there named, 
two others have been suggested, if not maintained. 
Sir. Goodwin, a ripe and accurate scholar, says, " It 
is not necessary to form axon by a composition of 
aei and on. It may arise much more naturally and 
more in the common order of things, from the verb 
aio.i It need only be its present active participle 
converted into a substantive, according to a common 
usage of the Greek language." t " Its proper force, 

* Tract 224, pp' 16, 17. f *'*»■ 

$ Christian Examiner, No. for March, 1831, Art. 4, p. 42, 

11 



122 universalist's assistant. 

in reference to duration, seems to be more that of 
uninterrupted duration than otherwise ; a term of 
which the duration is continuous, so long as it lasts, 
but which may be completed and finished ; as age, 
dispensation, smculum, in a general sense." * It 
has been suggested from another source, though 
not one entitled to so much reliance, that it is 
" derived from aia,\ a poetical word meaning the 
earth or world, and on X as a participle of eimi$ to 
exist." II Even Prof. Stuart admits these terms 
have a " meaning sometimes attached" to them, 
which plainly shows them to have been derived 
from aio,% which he very summarily pronounces 
"a mistaken derivation." ^ But were it com- 
pounded as the objector maintains, the inference he 
draws, is by no means a necessary inference ; for 
then " the original root is the verb #5, ft which 
signifies to breathe" 14 Beside, the sense of words 
depends more upon usage than upon their deriva- 
tion ; for this often gives a meaning to words, 
which bears not the slightest affinity to what might 
be expected, from the derivation.^ 

* Christian Examiner, No. for March, 1831, p. 42. 

fata. I on'. §tfyti; || James Hall. % iit*. 

## Exegetical Essays, p. 15. Also a reply, in Christian 
Examiner, for March, 1831, p. 31, et seq. 

ft a ■•'. tt Christian Examiner, No. for March, 1831, p. 43. 

<j§ " Etymology is not conclusive evidence of the meaning 

of words It does not afford that positive evidence, 

which would justify us in affirming with certainty, this or 
that to have been the indisputable meaning of any particu- 



THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 123 

" 2. Christ and his apostles, if they meant to be under- 
stood, must have used the terms in question, according to 
their known and established signification at the time they 
spoke and wrote. Now Josephus informs lis, that the Jews 
of our Saviour's time, especially the Essenes and the 
Pharisees, the two leading sects among them, held the doc- 
trine of the endless punishment of the wicked."* 

That these two leading sects among the Jews 
believed the doctrine of eternal punishment, must 
be admitted by all who have given any attention to 
the subject. It will also be admitted, by all candid 
and fair-minded men, that Christ and his apostles 
" must have used the terms in question, according 
to their known and established signification, at the 
time," if they wished to be understood. And the 
very point to be settled is, whether they used these 
terms to express an endless duration, and applied 
them to the future punishment of the wicked. If 
there is any evidence to prove this point, it yet 
remains to be adduced. 

lar term. Words change their meaning; oftentimes so 
much in the course of a few generations, that the etymo- 
logical sense of a term may have been the true one among 
writers of one age, while among those a century or two 
later, it may sustain a very different import. After etymol- 
ogy has borne its witness, we must next appeal to those 
other evidences in the case, which are more important and 
more decisive than this." Christ. Examiner, No. for March, 
1831, p. 44. 

" Nouns derived from verbs, and verbs from nouns, do, 
by usage, often acquire a sense entirely diverse from what 
their etymology would indicate. TJsus et jus et norma 
loquen&iP Stuart's Exeget. Ess., Appendix, p. 155. 

* Tract 224, p. 17. 



124 universalist's assistant. 

So far as I have the means of learning the facts, 
they go to establish the directly opposite position. 
It is said of Philo, an Egyptian Jew of the time of 
Christ, and a believer in endless misery — " His 
favorite epithet for eternal, or endless, is aidios ; ^ 
which, with some other words signifying immortal, 
interminable, etc., he applies to future misery. So 
far as we have observed, aionios is never so ap- 
plied."! Josephus, in describing the doctrine of the 
Pharisees, says — They believed " the souls of the 
bad are allotted, aidios ergmos,X to an eternal prison, 
and punished with aidios timoria, eternal retribu- 
tion" In describing the doctrine of the Essenes, 
Josephus says, they believed " the souls of the bad 
are sent to a dark and tempestuous cavern, full of 
adialeiptos timoria,^ incessant punishment " II 

Now this is a very different phraseology from 
that adopted by Christ and his apostles, in reference 
to the punishment of the wicked. Not an instance 
can be pointed out in the New Testament, where 
they adopt any such phraseology, or anything 
kindred to it. The Saviour, in speaking of the 
punishment of the wicked, uniformly adopts the 
phrases, kolasin aionion,^ or aibniou krisebs,** 
" eternal punishment," or " eternal damnation," as 

# aidio$ . f Universalist Expositor, Vol. 3, p. 446. 

if ai'diog tiQyubc. § adialsmTOQ r^iujQia. 

f| Universalist Expositor, Vol. 3, p. 437. 
If xolaoir aicbviov, Matt. 25 : 46. 
** aiwriov XQtOtwg, Mark 3 : 29. 



THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 125 

translated in our common version. Thus it will be 
seen, that Jewish writers of the time of our Saviour, 
in describing the duration of the punishment of the 
wicked, which they believed to be endless, used 
very different phraseology from him, to describe it, 
so far as single terms are concerned, to say nothing 
of their amplification of the idea, and the collateral 
associations. They call punishment, aidios, or 
adialeiptos timbria,* while the Saviour calls it 
aibnios krisis, or kolasis aibnios, and the apostles, 
olethros amnios, everlasting destruction^ and puros 
aibnios, eternal fire. X 

Hence, in speaking upon this subject, in refer- 
ence to the Jews, both of Egypt and Palestine, it 
has been said — " It is important to observe, that in 
neither country do we find- it connected with the 
peculiar representations, or expressed in the peculiar 

# In addition to what is in the text relative to Jewish 
phraseology, I have been furnished with the following by 
Rev. H. Ballou, 2d, D. D. " Philo applied words to punish- 
ment which mean immortal, interminable. These words are 
aduvaroq and areXsvTijroc. At least, I find in his Tract De 
Prcemiis and Poenis, Tom. ii., pp. 419, 420, of Mangey's 
Edition, the following sentence concerning the wicked ; — 
tijv ajTo$v)' i ay.ovTct ctsi, xal tqottov lira SavaTov adurarov 
rx.ousirwv kdl aTsXsvnjrov, to live always dying, and to undergo 

as it were an immortal and interminable death He 

sometimes uses aiwvioc in a temporal sense ; and once at 
least aiwvios xoXaaiq for the injury which an offended 
neighbor will pursue us with, if we incur his hatred. Frag- 
menta, Tom. ii., p. 667." 

f 2 Thess. 1 : 9. oXs&oov aluviov. 

% Jllde 7. nvQoc ctiuiviov* 



126 universalist's assistant. 

phraseology, which distinguishes the controverted 
texts in the New Testament. With many of these 
passages, it has no coincidence ; so that it would 
not be suggested by their language. On the con- 
trary, we have seen, in a former period, that the 
larger part of the expressions in question were then 
habitually applied by the Jews, to the judgments 
and afflictions of this world. What we have said 

of Philo, may be repeated of Josephus 

Aidios is the word which he commonly uses for 
eternal. Aibnios frequently occurs ; and he gen- 
erally applies it to the affairs of the present life. 
Thus, he speaks of the everlasting* name which 
the patriarchs left behind them , of the everlasting 
glory of the Jewish nation and heroes ; of the ever- 
lasting reputation of Herod; of the everlasting 
memorial which he erected ; of the everlasting wor- 
ship in the temple of Jerusalem ; of the everlasting 
imprisonment to which John, the tyrant, was con- 
demned by the Romans, etc."t 

Thus it will be seen, that Christ and his apostles 
have not used the current phraseology of their time, 
in reference to the duration of punishment, if we 
are to regard the writings of their cotemporaries as 
any evidence in the case. On the other hand, they 
have adopted terms to express its duration, which 
their cotemporaries, in common with the Old Tes- 
tament Scriptures, commonly applied to earthly 

* almviog. t Universalist Expositor, Vol. 3, p. 440. 



THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 127 

glory, the punishment which men inflict upon each 
other, and things of a temporal character. What 
is the natural and obvious inference from these 
facts, if they are to be regarded as evidence in the 
case, anyway ? Is it not plainly, that Christ and 
his apostles could not have entertained the com- 
monly received views upon this subject ? If they 
had, is it supposable that they would have neg- 
lected to have used the commonly received phrase- 
ology in relation to it, and adopted that which, as 
commonly used by their cotemporaries and their 
Scriptures, was calculated to convey a very different 
idea, as they have ? No one can question this ; for 
it would be to impeach their ingenuousness, if not 
their honesty. 

" 3. In the Bible, the word aionios is applied to the future 
happiness of the righteous, and the future misery of the 
wicked in the same connexion."* 

There is but one example of this, in the whole 
Bible, and that is the following — " These shall go 
away into everlasting punishment, but the righte- 
ous into life eternal ."t And in this case, the objec- 
tor assumes for an undisputed truth, what certainly 
needs to be proved ; viz., that this text is used with 
an exclusive reference to the condition of men in 
the future world. This is denied, and the proof 
demanded. It is denied that it is intended to de- 
scribe merely and solely the duration of the life of 

* Traot 224, p. 18. t Matt. 25 : 46. 



128 universalist's assistant. 

the righteous, or the punishment of the wicked, in 
the world of spirits alone, I believe it relates just 
as truly to the righteous and the wicked in this 
world, as in the next, and to those in the world to 
come, as to those in this present ivorld. I believe 
the design of this text is, to describe the general 
principles by which the Divine government is regu- 
lated, in its dealings with mankind ; and that what 
is meant to be expressed by it is, that it is an 
immutable law of God's government, that there is 
an inseparable connexion between goodness and 
happiness, and wickedness and misery. If this be 
a law of the moral government of God, it must 
prevail wherever this government is established. If 
it is said, this text does not unequivocally say this ; 
I reply, neither does this text or its context unequiv- 
ocally affirm the contrary, nor indeed, to our mind 
at least, imply anything of this kind. In defence 
of the view just expressed, it may be remarked ; 

1. That the word life, as applied to the righte- 
ous in the New Testament, and in this text among 
the rest, cannot mean mere existence, because the 
bad as well as the good possess this in the future, 
as well as the present world ; for there is to be a 
resurrection* both of the just and the unjust.t It 



# avaOTctoiv fusZlstv toso&ai vsxqrov, will be a future life of 
the dead. Dr. Campbell's Note on Matt. 22 : 23. Also, 
Prel. Diss. D. 6., p. 2, § 19. f Ac *s 24 : 15. 



THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 129 

must refer to the moral condition of the individual ; 
to the state of his mind and heart, as a source of 
happiness or enjoyment. But this peculiar some- 
thing which the righteous possess, is not possessed by 
the bad, as we read — " He that believeth on the Son 
hath everlasting life ; and he that believeth not the 
Son shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth 
on him."^ Thus it is seen, that the term aionios 
is used to describe this life, this state of the mind 
and heart in a good man. Does it, or can it, in 
such a connexion, mean an endless duration ? 

The answer to this question must depend upon 
the answer to another question ; viz., On what does 
the perpetuity of this state of the mind and heart, 
or the happiness flowing therefrom, depend ? Does 
it depend upon the nature of the life, or upon cer- 
tain contingent circumstances ? I think all persons 
who will reflect upon the subject a few moments, 
must see, that its perpetuity depends entirely upon 
one circumstance ; viz., whether the individual con- 
tinues without end, to sustain the character which 
is the cause of this life or enjoyment. To make 
my idea more plain, I will suppose a case. 

Here is a man who is intemperate, profane, 
ungodly. In the providence of God, he is awak- 
ened to a becoming sense of his guilty and lost 
condition. He becomes a penitent, reforms of his 
vicious practices, and enters upon a life of piety 

* John 3: 36. 



130 universalist's assistant. 

and virtue. He becomes a true believer ; an entire 
change is effected in his character ; and the whcle 
current of his thoughts and feelings takes a new 
direction, and he lives with new aims and purposes. 
He becomes " a new creature ;" " old things have 
passed away," and " all things become new."* 
In consequence, he enters into everlasting life ; for 
" he that belie veth on the Son hath everlasting 
life;" he " is passed from death unto life."t Such 
is his state and condition when he becomes a 
believer, no matter whether that be early or late, or 
where he is. Now how long will he remain in this 
state ? How long will this life last, in his soul ? 
Without end? Nay, we cannot affirm this uncon- 
ditionally. It will be so if he continues to sustain 
the character which gives birth to it in his soul, 
without end. Hence the true answer to this ques- 
tion is — He will remain in this state and condition, 
just so long as he continues to maintain this char- 
acter, and no longer. If, as has too often been the 
case, he falls and again becomes a profane, intem- 
perate, and ungodly man, where is this life then ? 
Does it still exist in his soul ? Does he still possess 
that peace of soul which passeth all understanding ? 
Most certainly not. His life, as a believer, has 
come to an end, and he is again in that state of 
mind and heart, which is denominated, in the Scrip- 
tures, u the gall of bitterness, and the bonds of 

* 2 Cor. 5 : 17. f John 5 : 24. 1 John 3 : H. 



THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 131 

iniquity," death, damnation, etc. — terms indicative 
not only of an absence of enjoyment, but a state of 
positive and continuous suffering.^ 

Such being the state of the case, it is manifest, 
that the duration of this life depends, not upon its 
nature, but upon the contingent circumstance, 
whether the individual remains permanently in 
that moral and religious condition of mind' and 
heart, which gives birth to it in his soul. This is 
just as true of the future as of the present state ; 
for men can no more be happy in the future world 
without being good, than they can in the present. 
This being the case, no term meaning a strictly 
endless duration could properly be connected with 
the word life, when used in the sense it is in the 
text under consideration. 

2. This view of the matter may be further con- 
firmed and established by the fact, that everywhere 
in the Scriptures, men are represented as being 
eligible to the enjoyments of this life, at the time 
when and the place where they become believers. 
And as men may become believers in this world, 
they may possess this life here. Hence we read — 
" He that heareth my word, and belie veth on him 
that sent me, hath everlasting life ; and shall not 
come into condemnation ; but is passed from death 
unto life."t The phrase everlasting life, and the 
single term life, as used in this text, cannot refer' 

* Ezek. 18 : I, 32. t John 5 : 24. 



132 universalist's assistant. 

exclusively to another state, unless men can become 
believers only in the future world ; for men are to 
come into the possession of it, or pass into it when 
they become believers, and as a consequence of 
their believing. 

With these facts before them, what intelligent 
and reflecting mind can regard the phrase everlast- 
ing life as referring exclusively to men's condition 
in the world of spirits only ? Surely such persons 
must see, that it applies to men's state and condition 
in this life, just as truly as in the next. So also 
they must see, in view of what has been said, that 
the use of aionios in connexion with the term life, 
is no proof of the endless continuance of that life, 
in any individual's soul ; because the duration of it 
depends upon the permanency of the cause, or the 
duration of his goodness. The fact of a man's 
being in the enjoyment of this life to-day, is no 
evidence, though a presumption in favor of such an 
expectation, that he will be in its enjoyment to-mor- 
row ; because we do not know but that to-morrow 
he will abandon his integrity and virtue, and plunge 
into sin, and so become involved in condemnation 
and death. In other words, we cannot invest that 
with the character of a positive certainty, which 
from its very nature is contingent. 

Such being the state of the case in regard to the 
use of the term aionios in connexion with the life 
of the righteous, I ask in the language of the ob- 
jector — " Is it credible, that the inspired writers 



THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 133 

should use the same word, in the same sentence, 
and in reference to the same general subject, in 
totally different senses ?"* This will hardly be 
pretended ; and of course this term, when applied 
to the punishment of the wicked, affords just as 
little evidence of its endless continuance, as it does 
when applied to the life of the righteous. Both 
rest precisely upon the same footing, and in neither 
case, does this term afford the slightest evidence as 
to their duration, whether it be longer or shorter. 
This is a contingent matter. 

" 4. The term aimiios is uniformly used in the Scriptures, 
to denote the longest possible duration of which the subject 
to which they are applied, is capable."! 

That this statement is entirely incorrect, only a 
few instances need be cited from the Scriptures, to 
demonstrate. These I will present in the language 
of another. " The land of Canaan is often said to 
be given to the seed of Abraham for an " everlast- 
ing possession ; yet that everlasting possession 
ceased ages ago, notwithstanding both the subjects, 
viz., the land itself, and the descendants of Abra- 
ham, were capable of a much longer duration ;" as 

# Tract 224, p. 18. From what has been said, we infer, 
that the mere use of the word aiconog in Matt. 25 : 46, 
does not necessarily imply the positive eternity, either of 
the happiness of the good, or the misery of the wicked, 
after judgment." — Chris. Exam., Vol. 5, p. 446, No. for Nov. 
and Dec. 1828. 

f Tract 224, p. 18. 
12 



134 UNIVERSALIST ? S ASSISTANT. 

we happen to know, from their having actually en- 
dured to the present time. So likewise, when 
Jonah remained in the depths of the sea, though it 
was only for three days and three nights, he says, 
" the earth with her bars was about me forever." 
Here the term forever denotes about seventy hours ; 
though the subjects to which it was applied, viz , 
the earth and Jonah, had a much longer duration."^ 
Other instances might be produced, going to show 
the utter falsity of the declaration under considera- 
tion ; but it is quite unnecessary, as those already 
presented, demonstrate its incorrectness, and over- 
turn this position, designed to show that the term 
aionios, " when* applied to things in a future world, 
to the rewards of the righteous and the punishment 
of the wicked, must denote absolute eternity."! 

In addition to all this, to confirm the meaning of 
" absolute eternity," attempted to be fixed upon the 
term aibnios in certain connexions, an appeal is 
sometimes made to the New Testament usage. 
Upon this issue the whole might be safely rested ; 
for take Prof. Stuart's enumeration and classifica- 
tion of the passages where this term is used, and 
usage is entirely against the sense of " absolute 
eternity." He says, " It appears from the above 
representation, that there are sixty-six cases in 



* Letters to Dr. Hawes, p. 33. 
f Tract 224, p. 18. 



THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 135 

which aibnios is employed in the New Testament. 
Of these fifty-one are used in relation to the happi- 
ness of the righteous ; two, in relation to God or his 
glory ; six are of a miscellaneous nature ; and seven 
relate to the subject of future punishment."^ Now, 
bearing in mind the fact, that it has been already 
shown,! that the term cannot mean " absolute 
eternity," when applied to the happiness of the 
righteous, from the very nature of the subject, which 
way does usage look, with the above enumeration 
and classification before us ? Fifty-one, out of the 
sixty-six cases, are at once referred to the class 
meaning an indefinite duration ; and then the seven 
relating to the punishment of the wicked, must be 
placed in the same category, leaving only eight to 
bear the sense of endless, if the whole are given up, 
which no one will claim, who has any acquaintance 
with the subject. This surely is not making opt 
much of a case in favor of " absolute eternity," as 
the sense of aibnios, on the score of usage. 

Such is my reply to the arguments by which the 
sense of " absolute eternity" is attempted to be fixed 
upon the terms aibn and aibnios — for what is true 
of one is true also of the other. X Of the sufficiency 
of the reply that has been given, the reader must 

*Exegetical Essays, p. 46. f See pp. 123—127. 

% The only exception to this remark is, that at6>v is used 
much more frequently (112 times, if I have counted cor- 
rectly) in the New Testament, than aicbvios. 



136 universalist's assistant. 

judge. It is laid before him as an impartial juror, 
to determine the matter in the fear of God. 



SECTION IV. ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS TO SHOW 

THE TERMS AION AND AMNIOS DO NOT MEAN 
" AESOLUTE ETERNITY.' 

In the preceding sections many facts have been 
stated to meet the arguments therein noticed, de- 
signed to fix upon these terms the sense of endless 
duration. But there are many more facts and con- 
siderations bearing upon the same point, which could 
not properly be arranged uuder any of the divisions 
of those sections. These I now propose to gather 
up and present to the reader. 

1. Statements of Lexicons. 
Modern lexicons need not be appealed to, as they 
all agree in assigning endless or eternity as one of 
the meanings of these terms. Mr. Goodwin^ says, 

# I wish to say, in this place, that I am greatly indebted 
to the labors of this most laborious student and thorough 
scholar for very many of the facts and suggestions contained 
in this chapter ; and any one who may wish to see the ex- 
hibition of facts upon which the statements quoted from him, 
are founded, is referred to a series of articles published in 
the Christian Examiner, commencing in the No. for Nov. 
and Dec, 1828, and ending in the No. for May, 1833. In 
relation to these articles, I think all who will carefully study 
them, will say with the editors of that paper : — " We ac- 
knowledge ourselves indebted to them for much information, 
and are convinced that their author has thrown a light upon 
the words in question, which will hereafter be gratefully ac- 



THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 137 

" Hesychius, a lexicographer of either the fourth or 
sixth century, is the oldest to which I have had ac- 
cess. His definition of aibn is very short, and 
makes no allusion whatever to any sense of eternity 
in this word." " I next appeal to Pharoninus, a 
lexicographer of the sixteenth century. . . . His 
authority, I trust, will be admitted as good, for it is 
very frequently quoted by the later writers, as that 
in which they place confidence. He gives a descrip- 
tion of the meanings of aion at great length. I 
make the following extract. "Aion is life, femi- 
ninely. Homer, " thyself shall be dispoiled of dear 
existence; from ab,^ to breathe ; and the spirit is 
breath. . . . and we, also, call the inspiring the 

living aion is, also, the eternal and endless, 

as it seems to the theologian."! Here, I strongly 
suspect, is the true secret brought to light, of the 
origin of the sense of eternity in aibn. The theolo- 
gian first thought he perceived it, or else he placed 
it there. And the theologian will probably retain 
it there longer than any one else. Hence it is, that 

1 knowledged by those who shall seek to discover their mean- 
ing, and which cannot excusably be disregarded by any bibli- 
cal student.*' An important service would be rendered the 
Universalist ministry, if these articles should be issued in a 
book, edited by some competent person. Its value might be 
. increased by extending the inquiry still farther. 

# UO). 

f u AlvtV) >/ lojij ^tjXvy.ojg. Outjoog, Avrog Si (fl^rjc aitovog 

autodslg. Tlaoa to ubiv tivUiv. y.at ar^ia, to nvevpa 

xal HiTirovv dt rov lowto. ipa^ilv . . . aicor. y.al 6 a'idiog y.ai «T«- 
ksvrtjroc } iog Tut QzoXoyai doxti." 

' 12* ' 



138 UNIVERSALIST'S ASSISTANT. 

those lexicographers who assign eternity as one of 
the meanings of aion, uniformly appeal for proofs to 
either theological, Hebrew, or Rabbinical Greek, or 
some species of Greek subsequent to the age of the 
Seventy, if not subsequent to the age of the Apostles, 
so far as I can ascertain. I do not know of an in- 
stance, in which any lexicographer has produced 
the usage of ancient classical Greek, in evidence 
that axon means eternity. I do not believe he could 
find a case to this purpose there. "^ 

2. Classical usage. 
Mr. Goodwin says, in regard to the sense of 
eternity in aion, " Ancient classical Greek rejects it 
altogether. "t " In the Iliad and Odyssey, awn oc- 
curs thirteen times only as a noun."t " I notice in 
Hesiod only two instances of aion."§ " This is 
certain ; — mean what it may, aion in Homer and 
Hesiod never means eternity ."§ It may here be 
remarked, that these are two of the oldest Greek 
writings in existence. Their authors lived near a 
thousand years before the commencement of our 
era. " In iEschylus I notice nineteen instances of 
aion."§ " I believe no one will suspect that 
iEschylus ever imagined a sense of eternity to be- 
long to aion.^W He lived and wrote about 500 
years before Christ. " In Pindar's Odes, not in- 

* Christ. Exam. No. for March, 1831, pp. 46— 4S. 

t Do., p. 48. t Do., p. 53. § Do., p. 56. || Do. p. 59. 



THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 139 

eluding the Fragments, I notice thirteen instances 
of aibn."* He lived and wrote about 495 B. C. 
" In Sophocles I notice nine instances of aion."t 
"•Among the examined works of Aristotle, aibn oc- 
curs five times in the treatise de Mundo, twice in 
the fourteen books of Metaphysics ■, and five times in 
the treatise de Ccdo" These twelve are the only- 
instances in the examined works. "$ " It will be 
observed, that in every instance, there is a sense of 
secrecy of the nature and indefiniteness of the dura- 
tion of the existence expressed by this word, but in 
no case a sense of positive eternity "§ " He con- 
siders aibn to signify, in strict propriety, a thing com- 
pleted, so as to be permanent, or enduring as long as 
its nature admits. He means to say, that a thing 
completed according to its nature, is called aibn an 
existence, on account of its existing permanently or 
enduringly ; the period of its permanency, or endur- 
ing, being conformed to its nature."ll " As certainly 
as human life is not eternal, so certainly aibn 
did not contain the meaning of eternity. "IT " In 
Euripides, I notice thirty-two instances of aibn, 
either separate or in composition."^^ I have been 
thus particular in these statements, that the reader 
may see the extent to which the examination has 
been carried, and the grounds upon which the 

* Christ. Exam., No. for March, 1831, p. 59. }T)o., p. 61. 
(Do., No. for May, 1831, p. 167. § Do., p. 170. 
|| Do., p. 174. If Do., p. 177. * * Do., p. 179. 



140 universalist's assistant. ' 

following conclusion is based. " The instances pro- 
duced show plainly, that aibn, in these writers, never 
express positive eternity ; in some few cases it may 
signify a term of duration ; but more commonly, it 
expresses either simply existence, or the person 
existing ; and in many cases, the vital principle, or 
life, or the living spirit itself."^ 

This author also adds : " I have said nothing con- 
cerning the adjective aibnios, for the single reason, 
that it does not occur in any instance in any of the 
Greek works within the present examination. Did 
I not know that it is to be found in Plato, I should 
be almost ready to believe that it did not exist in 
ancient Greek at all. I have had no opportunity to 
consult the works of Plato to any extent, and can 
therefore say nothing of the frequency or infrequency, 
with which this adjective occurs therein. But I 
will venture the present opinion, that aibnios was 
coined by the early translators of the Pentateuch, as 
a proper representative of the adjective olami, and 
is entirely of Hebrew-Greek origin. ... In the 
entire absence of aibnios from ancient Greek, within 
the present examination, it will not be thought un- 
justifiable to entertain the above opinion as to its 
origin, until further examination shall prove the 
opposite ;t and it must be presumed, that it follows 

* Christ. Exam., No. for May, 1831, p. 184. f fcVte 

X A further examination of Plato by this author only con- 
firmed this conclusion, as may be seen in the work so often 
named, Nos. for March and May, 1832, pp. 99—105. 



THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 141 

the general track of aion, in its meanings and 
shades of meanings, with the exception of those 
meanings of a noun, which cannot be imparted to 
an adjective, and those which it is known this noun 
never did impart to this adjective."^ Thus much in 
regard to classical usage, and the inference to be 
drawn from it. 

3. Scripture usage. 

The scriptures are written in two different lan- 
guages, the Hebrew and the Greek ; but we have 
the whole Bible in Greek ; the Old Testament being 
a translation made, about 286 years before Christ,! 
by a number of learned men in Alexandria in 
Egypt. t This is called the Septuagint version. I 
shall confine the examples to the Greek, because 
it is agreed on all hands, that the Greek words aibn 
and aibnios correspond entirely to the Hebrew olam, 
in sense, which " expression is never used in the 
Old Testament to denote an absolute eternity. "§ 

In order that the matter may be presented to the 
mere English reader in the more striking light, and 

* Christ. Exam., No. for May, 1831, pp. 186—7. 

t This is probably the date only of the translation of the 
Pentateuch, while the translation of the remaining portion 
of the Old Testament was made by diiferent individuals, at 
different and later times. Jahn's Introduction to the 0. T., 
p. 52, Andover, 1827. 

$ Home's Intro., Vol. 2., p. 163., et seq. 

§ Noyes' Translation of the Heb. Prophets, Note on 
Micah 5 : 2. 



142 universalist's assistant. 

enable him the more clearly to perceive the absurdity 
of maintaining that these terms properly denote 
"absolute eternity," I will translate them by the 
words eternity and eternal. "When a translation 
of axon and aibnios, they will be put in small 
capitals ; and to prevent, as much as possible, the 
introduction of Greek words into the text, the trans- 
lation only will be given, and when there is a 
variation in the phraseology, the Greek will be given 
in the margin. 

1. In the following instances these terms are 
used in reference to things which have already 
come to an end. " I will give unto thee, and thy 
seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, 
all the land of Canaan,ybr an eternal possession."* 
" And thou shait anoint them as thou didst their 
father, that they may minister unto me in the 
priest's office ; for their anointing shall surely be a 
priesthood through the eternity."! "Then his 
master shall bring him to the door, or unto the 
door-posts, and his master shall bore his ear through 
with an awl, and he shall serve him through the 

ETERNITY." X 

" The waters compassed me about — even to the soul ; 
The weeds were wrapped about my head. 
I went down to the bottoms of the mountains ; 
The earth with her bars was about me eternally." § 

# Gen. 17 : 8 ; dg xaraa/soiv aiwvtov. Also, Gen. 13 : 15 
f Exod. 40 : 15. e?g rov atwva, which is explained by tig 
Tug ytvtag avro>v. 

X Exod. 21 : 6. tig rov aiwva. 
§ Jonah 2 : 6. aiaivioi. 



THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 143 

A multitude of other texts might be added to these, 
equally striking, to show these terms are used with 
reference to things which have come to an end ; but 
these must suffice. 

2. The term aibn is repeated in the following 
instances. " To whom be the glory during the 
eternities even to the eternities."^ " Unto him 
be glory in the church by Jesus Christ, through 
all the ages, the eternity and the eternities."! 
" Now unto God and our Father be glory through 
the eternities even to the eternities."! 

3. In addition to the examples above, the term 
is used in the plural number in the following 
instances. "Now all these things happened unto 
them for ensamples, and they are written for our 
admonition upon whom the ends of the eternities 
are come."§ %i That in the eternities coming, he 

# In this and the following examples I give the Greek as 
near a verbal rendering into English as is possible, accept- 
ing the definition of eternity as the legitimate meaning of 
aibn ; and this is done for the purpose of showing to the 
mere English reader something of the aspect of things, as 
presented to the mind of a scholar. The real meaning, I 
take to be this, taking the first text as an example. " To 
whom be the glory slg rovg alwvag rwv aicbvwv, through all 
the ages y or more literally, from age to age. Gal. 1:5. And 
so of the rest. 

f sig TTocOag rag ysvsag tov alcSvog rcov atoivwr^ through all 
generations from age to age. 

% Phil. 4 : 20. Greek the same as in Gal. 1:5. See also 
1 Tim. 1: 17. Heb. 1: 8. Eph. 3: 21. 2 Tim. 4: 18. 
Heb. 13 : 21. 1 Peter 4 : 11. Rev. 1:6; 4:9; 5 : 13, 14 ; 
7: 21; 14: 11; 15: 7; 20: 10. 

§ 1 Cor. 10 : 11. ru ti'^.tj Tf5v alcovojv xartjrrriasv, the end 
of the ages are come. 



144 uni verbalist's assistant. 

might show the exceeding riches of his grace. "^ 
" The mystery which hath been hid from the eter- 
nities and from the generations.^ 

4. Beside the example above, the end of the 
axon is spoken of as follows ; — " But now once in 
the end of the eternities, hath he appeared to put 
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. "J " The har- 
vest is the end of the eternity. ' ? § " So shall it be 
in the end of this eternity.'II " Tell us, when 
shall these things be ? and what the sign of thy 
coming, and of the end of the eternity ? "IT 

5. In the following texts, times are spoken of beyond 
the axon. " The Lord shall reign to the eternity, 
and during the eternity, and longer." ^ " And 
they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of 
the firmament ; and they that turn many to right- 
eousness, as the stars through the eternities, and 

# Eph. 2 : 7. tv Totg alwoi rotq intoxouhoig, * n ^ e a S es 
coming. 

f Col. 1 : 26. anb tcov aiwvwv xal anb iwv y sv tcov y from the 
ages and the generations. 

\ Heb. 9 : 26. inl owreXsla rd>v aiavtovj in the conclusion 
of the ages. 

§ Matt. 13 : 39. cvvrtltiti tov aicorog tOTir, is the conclu- 
sion of the age. 

|| Matt. 13 : 40. h rr, ovvTsAsicc tov aiJovog tov'tov, in the 
conclusion of this age. 

% Matt. 24 : 4. t/^c owTtXelag tov aionog, conclusion of the 
age. See Campbell's Four Gospels, Prel. Diss. D. 12 : Pt. 

** Exod. 15 : 18. xvqioq flaaiZei'uv tov a crura, xal In 1 
atonct, xal tTi. The Lord shall reign from age to age, and 
beyond all the ages,i. e., indefinitely in duration. 



THE RENDERING OP ORIGINAL WORDS. 145 

longer."* " And we will walk in the name of 
Jehovah our God through the eternity and be- 
yond."! 

Such are a few of the examples presented by the 
Scriptures, of the usage of the term aidn. We 
have seen that it is used to represent durations 
which have come to an end ; that it is frequently 
repeated ; that it is often used in the plural number ; 
that the end of the periods it describes are often 
mentioned ; and finally, that times after that de- 
scribed by this term are mentioned. With all this 
before us, who can believe, that a word bearing 
such a usage, could be regarded, by the sacred 
writers, as expressing " absolute eternity " as its 
primitive and necessary meaning? It appears to 
me, no candid man can ; and the farther and more 
thorough the investigation is pursued, the more 
entirely must every such mind be satisfied, that such 
cannot be its meaning. If its strict and proper 
meaning was " absolute eternity," in the view of 
these writers, how could they have ever used it in 
the plural number ? What sense is there in giving 



# Daniel 12 : 3. dg rovg altovag, xal sn, through the ages 
and beyond them all. 

f Micah 4 : 5. slg rbv aitova, xal tnsxeiva, tfirough the age 
and beyond it. 

These three examples from the Septuagint, show most 
conclusively, that aia>v, in the judgment of these transla- 
tors, did not express an absolute eternity; else why add 
other words to express a further continuance of the duration 
than this word itself expresses ? 

13 



146 universalist's assistant. 

a plural, to a word, which of itself, means a single 
period of endless duration ? And then, if the trans- 
lators of the Old Testament had have regarded this 
term as, in any case, bearing the sense of endless 
duration, why have they, as in the examples 
quoted, not only used the term in the plural num- 
ber, and then repeated it, but, as if not satisfied 
with the duration they had expressed, they add 
terms to express the continuance of time indefinitely, 
beyond that described by this term ? These surely 
are singular phenomena to be exhibited by a word 
of the character the objector would have us believe 
it sustains. So far as Scripture usage is concerned, 
it seems to me, that we must come to the same con- 
clusion we did, in regard to its classical usage ; that 
it does not express " absolute eternity." 

4. Usage among the Christian Fathers. 
It is admitted, on all hands, that there were those 
among the early Christian Fathers, who were be- 
lievers in universal salvation. The celebrated Origen 
is among the most distinguished of these men, and 
not only a noted believer, but defender of this doc- 
trine. And yet he, with others who believed in 
the salvation of all men, are said, by those who 
have examined their existing works, to have called 
future punishment everlasting, and to describe it 
as eternal fire or torment.^ " In all his works, 

* Ancient Hist, of Universalism, p. 67. 



THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 147 

Origen freely uses the expressions everlasting 
fire, everlasting punishment, etc., without any 
explanation, such as our modern prepossessions 
would render necessary, to prevent misunderstand- 
ing."^ Such are the facts. Now how are we to 
explain them so as not to conflict with the position, 
that the original and proper meaning of aionios is 
absolute eternity ? If these Universalists, who were 
themselves native Greeks, had have regarded this 
term as expressing such an idea, they could not 
have used it in describing a punishment in which 
they believed ; because they openly and undisguis- 
edly, not only denied the doctrine of the eternity of 
future punishment, but maintained that of universal 
restoration.t 

Now this is a very important circumstance ; for 

# Ancient Hist, of Universalism, p. 114. 

f It might be added, as a fact of some interest, that the 
doctrine of eternal punishment is not recognized as an 
article of belief in the church, in the earliest symbol of 
their faith extant — I mean the document called the " Apos- 
tles' Creed." I here give a copy of it in English. "I 
believe in God, the Father Almighty ; and in Jesus Christ, 
his only begotten Son. our Lord, who was born of the 
Virgin Mary by the Holy Ghost, was crucified under Pontius 
Pilate, buried, rose from the dead on the third day, as- 
cended to the heavens, and sits on the right hand of the 
Father ; whence he will come, to judge the living and 
the dead; and in the Holy Spirit; the holy church; the 
remission of sins ; and the resurrection of the body." This 
is the common form of it, as it existed in the fourth century, 
in which it differs some, from more ancient copies. Mur- 
dochs Mosheim's Eccl. History, Vol. 1, p. 96 ; New Haven, 
1832. 



148 universalist's assistant. 

it not only shows, that they did not consider the 
term as expressing absolute eternity — and they 
were, certainly, as competent judges of its proper 
signification, being native Greeks, as we are at the 
present day — but it has a direct bearing upon the 
New Testament usage of the term. We know 
they were Universalists, and, of course, that they 
did not understand the term as expressing " abso- 
lute eternity." And using the term precisely as it 
is used in the New Testament, which they regarded 
as an authoritative rule of faith and practice, we 
know, also, that they must have considered its 
application to punishment as no evidence of its 
endless duration. This is further manifest, from 
the fact, that when the doctrine of universal salva- 
tion first became a matter of controversy, the Greek 
writers, who believed in endless misery, never used 
the circumstance of aibnios being applied to punish- 
ment, in the Scriptures, as an argument against the 
doctrine of the Universalists.^ Would they not 
have done it, had they have regarded the matter in 
the light in which it now is by the modern opposers 
of this doctrine ? The application of this term to 
punishment in the Scriptures, is one of the main 
pillars by which the doctrine of endless misery is 
to be supported, in the judgment of its advocates, at 
the present day. Had the Greek Christians have 
regarded the term in the same light, they certainly 

* Universalism Illustrated and Defended, p. 210. 



THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 149 

would not have failed to have urged it as an argu- 
ment against the Universalists.* This is a strong 
point. It shows that they did not consider it as 
meaning absolute eternity as used in the New Testa- 
ment ; and their judgment, in this matter, is worthy 
of great confidence, they being native Greeks, and a 
native is always more competent authority, as to the 
force and meaning of words in their own language, 
than any foreigner possibly can be, especially if he 
belongs to a distant age, and a country where the 
habits of thought and modes of expression are widely 
different. 

Such are some of my reasons for thinking the 
original and proper meaning of the terms aibn and 
aibnios is not " absolute eternity." I will recapitu- 
late them. It has been shown, that the several posi- 
tions assumed, to sustain this meaning, are not war- 
ranted by the facts in the case ; that the oldest lexi- 
cons do not give eternal as one of the meanings of 
aibn; that classical usage is against such an inter- 
pretation ; that the Jewish usage before, at the time, 
and immediately subsequent to the advent of the 

# The first instance on record of the circumstance of the 
term aiwvtog being applied to punishment, in the New Testa- 
ment, being urged as an argument against Universalism, 
occurred in the beginning of the fifth century. And this by 
Augustine, a Latin writer, and the father of what is now 
called the Calvinistic system of theology. He " was very 
imperfectly acquainted with the Greek language." Ancient 
Hist. Univ., p. 252, Boston, 1829. 

13* 



150 universalist's assistant. 

Saviour, is against such a construction;^ that 
Scripture usage is against it ; and that the usage of 
it by the early Christian Fathers, themselves Greeks, 
is against it. It appears, also, that while the Phari- 
sees and Essenes of the Saviour's time, believed the 
doctrine of endless punishment, and had certain 
terms and phrases by which they were accustomed 
to express this doctrine, Christ and his apostles have 
in no case adopted their phraseology, in speaking 
of the punishment of the wicked. 

And now I submit it to any candid and fair mind, 
not utterly blinded by prejudice and preconceived 
opinions, if he can believe, with this array of facts 
before him, that these words, in their original and 
proper signification, mean " absolute eternity ? " 
And this is the very point to be established, before 
the simple application of these terms to punishment 
can have any force as an argument in favor of 
its " absolute eternity ." It seems to me that a 
stronger case could not be made out nagatively, 
than the facts presented make out against this view. 
It is as near demonstration, as the subject will admit, 
that such is not its meaning. 

With what has been said herein upon this subject, 
I would press the question home upon the mind of 
every believer in the doctrine of the " absolute eter- 
nity" of punishment, if he can believe, that if this 
terrible doctrine is Heaven's truth, that the God of 

fSee pp. 118—121, of this work. 



THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 151 

all grace would have sanctioned the use of so equi- 
vocal a term, by his spirit, in revealing it to man ? 
Might we not expect that he would have caused so 
tremendous a doctrine to have been set forth in the 
most plain, positive and unequivocal terms ? Had 
it have been described in such terms as are used by 
Philo and Josephus, there would have been no room 
for dispute about the matter. But as it is, the mat- 
ter is left in the most utter obscurity. Should we 
not pause and consider, before we presume to charge 
the Creator with trifling with his creatures in this 
way, concerning one of the most tremendous subjects 
that ever claimed the attention of mankind ? 



SECTION V. CONCLUSION. 



In the preceding part of this chapter, I have pre- 
sented a variety of facts and considerations, going to 
show that the terms aibn and aibnios do not contain 
the meaning of " absolute eternity " In conclusion, 
it may not be amiss to notice the positive side of the 
question, and some of the objections against the 
position, that these terms do not mean " duration 
without end." 

1. I remark, that these words bear quite a variety 
of senses. Prof. Stuart considers them as used in 
the Scriptures with something like ten different 
meanings. So far as our present inquiry is con- 



152 

cerned, there are but two senses in which they are 
used, that are of particular interest. So far as the 
idea of duration is contained in them, I think they 
are well defined in the following words ; viz., " On 
the supposition that aibn, according to the common 
opinion, is compounded of aei and on, then, if ap- 
plied to time, it would signify a multitude of periods 
or times united to each other ;^ duration indefinitely 
continued. Its proper force, in reference to dura- 
tion, seems to be more that of uninterrupted dura- 
tion than otherwise ; a term of which the duration is 
continuous so long as it lasts, but which may be 
completed and finished ; as age, dispensation, sa> 
culum, in a general sense. If applied to breath, it 
would signify a multitude of breathings, or breath- 
ing indefinitely extended ; and if applied to simple 
existence, it would signify existence indefinitely ex- 
tended ."t 

From this definition, it will be seen, that aibn 
answers, in meaning, very nearly to the English 
word ever, when it has reference to duration. The 
word ever expresses the idea of progression and 
succession, without defining the duration thereof; 
as he is ever moving ; that is, he is continually, un- 
interruptedly in motion ; but it does not describe the 
length of time he will be in motion. This is entirely 
indefinite. It may be longer, it may be shorter. 

# " The comprehension of many times or periods." — 
Phavorinus. 
t Christ. Exam., No. for March, 1831, p. 42. 



THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 153 

So it is in reference to the terms in question, when 
they denote duration at all. The duration is 
entirely indefinite, depending wholly upon the 
nature of the subject to which they are applied, 
or the connexion in which they occur. Hence we 
find them used to denote widely different periods of 
time in length, varying from three days to many 
ages, as they are used in the Scriptures. 

The reader can make the application of this defi- 
nition to the texts already quoted, for himself, 
though he will find it necessary to use different 
English words to express their meaning, in different 
connexions, because we have no one English word 
answering precisely and fully to the meaning of the 
terms aion and aio?iios, though we have several 
which will fully express the idea in different con- 
nexions, and as applied to various subjects. Hence, 
in translating, we are necessitated to use different 
words in different connexions, and in their applica- 
tion to different subjects, as a rendering of these 
terms. I will give an example or two.^ " For 
their anointing shall surely be a priesthood through 
the AGE."t " And he shall serve him all the days 

# In these examples I shall put the rendering of aion and 
aimiios, in small capitals, to save repeating the Greek words. 

f The following remarks of Mr. Locke will show the oc- 
casion of the use and the idea intended by the rendering of 
age and ages. " The nation of the Jews were the kingdom 
and people of God, whilst the law stood. And this kingdom 
of God, under the Mosaical constitution, was called aiwv 
ovrog, this age, or as it is commonly translated, this world y 



154 universalist's assistant. 

of his life." " To whom be glory from age to 
age ;" that is continually, " They are written for 
our admonition upon whom the ends of the age are 
come." " The Lord shall reign from age to age 
and beyond the ages;" that is for an indefinite, an 
undefined period in the future.^ 

2. The other sense to which allusion has been 
made, is that of spiritual. "When applied to the 
life of the righteous, I can attach no other sense to 

to which alojv hsorwQ, the present world, or age, here 
answers. But the kingdom of God, which was to be under 
the Messiah, wherein the economy and constitution of the 
Jewish church, and the nation itself, that, in opposition to 
Christ, adhered to it, was to be laid aside, is in the New 
Testament called alwv piltov, the world, or age to come" 
Note on Gal. 1 : 4. 

" Why the times, under the law, were called /oovoi alconot 
we may find reason in their jubilees, which were auZrsg 
" secula," or " ages," by which all the time under the law 
was measured ; and so yoovoi aiaynoi is used, 2 Tim. 1 : 9 
Tit. 1:2. And so al&vsg are put for the times of the law 
or the jubilees, Luke 1 : 70, Acts 3 : 21, 1 Cor. 2 : 7, 10 : 11 
Eph. 3 : 9, Col. 1 : 26, Heb. 9 : 26. And so God is called 
the rock of aian-wr, of ages, Isr iah 26 : 4, in the same sense 
that he is called the rock of Israel, Isa. 30: 29, i. e. 
the strength and support of the Jewish state ; — for it is of 
the Jews the prophet here speaks. So Exod. 21 : 6, si$ 
rbv auova signifies not as we translate it, " forever," but " to 
the jubilee ;" which will appear if we compare Lev. 25 : 39 
— 41, and Exod. 21 : 2. See " Burtho°'s Christianity, a re- 
vealed Mystery," pp. 17, IS." Note on Rom. 16 : 25. These 
are the reasons why we find the Jewish age, or the whole 
period of the Mosaic dispensation, sometimes spoken of 
in the singular, and at others in the plural number. For 
the same reasons, the time of the Messiah is called the age 
to come, and at others the ages to come. 

* Exod. 40 : 15, 21 : 6, Gal. 1 : 5, 1 Cor. 10 : 11, Exod. 
15: 18. 



THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 155 

the term aionios, except that of spiritual. This 
class of persons go into spiritual life — the enjoy- 
ment of a hidden, a concealed life ; a life not seen 
and felt by the world at large. " This meaning, 
there is good reason to believe, was very ancient, if 
not the original meaning of the word. It is well 
known, that ancient philosophers believed in a class 
of beings, called aioens or ceons ; which were said 
to be, either mediately or immediately, derivations 
from the Supreme Divinity, and were entirely 
spiritual existences. They were all, originally, 
good ; but some of them had become wicked ; and so 
the whole class answered to the common modern 
idea of angels, on the one hand, and devils on the 
other ; or generally, to what we mean by the word 
spirits, be they good or evil. The one set were 
happy, the other unhappy ; but the happiness or un- 
happiness was wholly of a spiritual nature, consist- 
ing essentially in the state of each individual's 
thoughts and feelings, either in union with, or in 
opposition to the Divine Mind. These beings, as 
we have remarked, were called ceons, and the word 
aionios, the adjective of this name, very naturally 
expresses something having the nature of ceons ; 
in other words, something spiritual in its kind, 
be its duration longer or shorter. It signifies 
something of that nature which belongs to spirits ; 
designating the kind, or nature of the thing; 
and showing forth something relating to the inward 



156 universalist's' assistant. 

thoughts and feelings in the individual, without pre- 
cisely marking the period of its continuance ; the 
Greek word aion, answering to our word spirit, and 
aionios, to spiritual "^ 

It is not my purpose to go into a defence of the 
opinion that spiritual is one of the meanings of 
aionios, as it is used in the New Testament. I 
merely suggest it, as an individual conviction, after 
long and patient reflection upon the subject, for the 
consideration of my readers. A few examples of 
what seems to be such a usage are here appended. 
11 Ye know no murderer hath spiritual life abiding 
in him."t " He that heareth my word, and belie v- 
eth in him that sent me, hath spiritual life, and 
shall not come into condemnation ; but is passed 
from death unto life."t " Who hath loved us and 
given us spiritual consolation. "§ And so of a 
multitude of other texts. And whatever may be 
thought of the critical grounds upon which this in- 
terpretation is founded, II one thing all can see, and 
that is, that this interpretation has the advantage of 
conveying to the mind, in such connexions, an 
intelligible idea, while the word eternal has no per- 

* Christ. Exam., Vol. 5, pp. 446, 447. 

t John 3:15. % Vo. 6 : 49. § 2 Thess. 2 : 16. 

|| See the series of articles in the Christian Examiner so 
often quoted from in this work, and described on p. 131, 
where is a very full exhibition of the critical grounds, both 
classical and scriptural, upon which spiritual is assigned as 
one of the meanings of au-'»i 



THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 157 

ceptible meaning. The same idea is applicable to 
the punishment of the wicked. Their punishment, 
to a very great extent, is an inward, a hidden one — 
one of the soul — the thoughts and feelings ; the dura- 
tion of which must depend upon the mutability or 
permanency of the character the individual sustains. 
If the character is changeable, then the duration of 
the punishment it causes, must be uncertain, indefi~ 
nite. 

In conclusion, then, I remark, that if the terms 
aibn and aionios are as indefinite, in regard to dura- 
tion, when they express this idea at all, as has been 
shown, as I trust, most satisfactorily, they are, of 
all imaginable terms, the fittest to be applied to 
the happiness of the righteous and the misery of 
the wicked ; for nothing is or can be more uncer- 
tain, so far as duration is concerned, than the 
happiness and misery of these individuals. And 
the reason is, that while it is certain every man will 
suffer punishment so long as he continues to sin, we 
cannot tell how long he will remain a sinner. As 
is his character to-day, so will be his condition ; 
but what will be his character to-morrow, no one 
can tell. If to-day he is a sinner, to-morrow, he 
may reform and become a saint, and so vice versa; 
and with his change of character, there will come 
a corresponding change in his state and condition. 

I will now notice one or two objections, which 
have been urged against the view that has been 
14 



158 universalist's assistant. 

presented of the meaning of the terms in question, 
though they are, in effect, met in the facts already- 
stated. 

1. If these terms do not express an endless dura- 
tion, there are none in the language that do. This 
is a mistake. "Aionios is a word of sparing occur- 
rence among ancient classical Greek writers ; nor 
is it, by any means, the common term employed by 
them to signify eternal. On the contrary, they 
much more frequently make use of aidios, aei on, 
or some similar mode of speech, for this purpose. . . 
To me it appears that the Seventy, by choosing 
aionios to represent olam, testify, that they did not 
understand" the Hebrew word to signify eternal. 
Had they so understood it, they would certainly 
have translated it by some more decisive word ; 
some term, which, like aidios, is more commonly 
employed in Greek, to signify that which has nei- 
ther beginning nor end."^ The same word is used 
to express endless duration by Philo Judseus, with 
athanatos and ateleutos, and also by Josephus. 
These are also found in the Scriptures in several 
instances, with akatalutos and aphtharsiaA Thus, 
it will be seen, there is no want of terms in the lan- 
guage, to express absolute eternity, without using 
axon or aionios at all. 



* Christian Exam., No. for Sept. 1830. pp. 25, 26. 
fRom. 1: 20. Jude G. Heb. 7: 16. Rom. 1:7. 2 
Tim. 1 : 10. 



THE RENDERING OF ORIGINAL WORDS. 159 

2. It has been said, if these terms are given up as 
expressing absolute eternity, we cannot prove from 
the Scriptures, that the human soul will exist or 
the righteous be happy without end. This is also a 
mistake. The word commonly used to describe the 
duration of human existence in the world of spirits, 
is aphtharsia,^ immortality or indestructible exist- 
ence, which is a much more decisive term to express 
endless duration, than aibn or aibniosA So in regard 
to the duration of the happiness of the righteous ; the 
truth is, we need no term to describe its duration. 
It is one of the laws of God, as fixed and immuta- 
ble as the throne of the Almighty itself, that vice 
and misery, and virtue and happiness, are insepar- 
ably united ; that they are coexistent and coexten- 
sive ; and that they will remain so as long as the 
human soul exists. The righteous will remain 
happy as long as the human soul exists ; but the 
individual only so long as he is righteous. And 
so with the wicked ; they will be punished as long 
as they exist in any world ; but the individual only 
so long as he remains wicked. All depends upon 
this circumstance, as to the duration of any man's 
happiness or misery. Every man will be happy or 
miserable just so long as he is good or bad ; and 
his state and condition will ever vary, in regard to 
happiness or misery, precisely as his character 
varies, in reference to goodness or badness. 

* iap&aQOta. j2 Tim. 1 : 10. 1 Cor. 15: 53. 



160 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE HEBREW WORD SHEOL, COMMONLY REN- 
DERED GRAVE AND HELL, CONSIDERED AS 
AN OBJECTION TO UNIVERSALISM. 

SECTION I. PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 

In times past, very much has been thought and 
attempted to be made out of the use of the word 
hell, in the Scriptures, without any reference to the 
original so rendered, as an argument against Uni- 
versalism. It was thought, when a text was pro- 
duced which represents the wicked as cast into hell, 
it was a sufficient refutation of this heresy, and a 
perfect demonstration of the truth of the doctrine 
of endless punishment. But that day has passed 
away; and now the inquiry is — Do the English 
words fairly represent the idea, intended by the 
original ? This state of things has put a new face 
upon the controversy. The discussion has been 
transferred from the English translation, to the 
words used in the original Scriptures, where it 
rightfully belongs, although attended with many 
inconveniences in managing a popular discussion. 

In the original Scriptures, there are three words 
translated hell, in our common version of the Bible ; 
skeol, Hades and Gehenna. In one instance there 



THE HEBREW WORD SHEOL. 161 

occurs a verb, which is in effect the same as the 
use of a fourth word, Tartarus.* But while per- 
sons are frequently represented as going to these 
places, no term is ever connected with them, calcu- 
lated to convey the impression that their continuance 
in it, is to be duration without end.t 

Such being the state of the case, it might be 
admitted, that these words denote a place of future 
punishment, and still nothing is gained in the way 
of making out the truth of the doctrine of eternal 
punishment. This is just as far from being proved 
after this admission as before ; and if established at 
all, it must be done by some entirely distinct and 
independent testimony. It will, therefore, be my 
object, in what follows, to collect and present all the 
information relative to the meaning of these terms, 
and the ideas they were intended to convey, that I 
can command, and in as brief a space as I may be 
able, and make the matter plain and intelligible to 
all who will think. 



# bi^llf? aXSrjg, yshva, Tugraqog. 

f There is but one text in which Hades occurs, and one 
where Gehenna is used which even seems an exception to this 
remark. In these instances, the imagery associated with 
these words, may seem to imply a contrary idea ; but a 
further and more accurate examination of the matter will 
satisfy any candid and intelligent mind, that it is in appear- 
ance only. The texts are Luke 16 : 23, and Matt. 18 : 
8, 9, and Mark 9 : 43—48. See pp. 186—193, and 222 
—225. 

14* 



162 universalist's assistant. 



SECTION IL ADMISSIONS OF THE LEARNED. 

While some are very confident that sheol means 
a place of endless punishment, as most of the older 
theologians were, others, and particularly recent 
writers, are quite diffident in these claims. Of this 
number is Prof. Stuart, who is not among the 
least. The fartherest he ventures to go, even when 
writing expressly to sustain the truth of the doctrine 
of eternal punishment, is to say, in regard to the 
following texts — " the cases in which sheol may des- 
ignate the future world of woe."^ " They spend 
their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to 
sheol."i " The wicked shall be turned into sheol, 
and all the nations that forget God."t " Her feet 
go down to death, her steps take hold of sheol."§ 
" But he knoweth that the ghosts are there, and that 
her guests are in the depths of sheol "\\ " Thou 
shalt beat him with a rod, and shall deliver his soul 
from sheol ."1T 

These are all the places where he thinks this 
term " may " mean " the future world of woe ;" and 
after devoting nearly five pages to comments, mostly 
of an interrogative character, designed to show that 
" the meaning will be a good one, if we suppose 
sheol to designate future punishment," he concludes 

* Exegetical Essays, p. 106. f Job 21 : 13. % Ps. 9 : 17. 
Prov. 5:5. || Do. 9 : 18. U Do. 23 : 14. 



THE HEBREW WORD SHEOL. 163 

with these words ; — " I concede, to interpret all the 
texts which exhibit sheol as having reference merely 
to the grave, is possible ; and therefore it is possible 
to interpret " them " as designating a death violent 
and premature, inflicted by the hand of Heaven ;"^ 
and finally he concludes with these remarkable 
words : — " The sum of the evidence from the Old 
Testament, in regard to sheol, is, that the Hebrews 
did, probably, in some cases, connect with the use 
of this word, the idea of misery subsequent to the 
death of the body. It seems to me, that we may 
safely believe this ; and to aver more than this, 
would be somewhat hazardous, when all the exam 
pies of the word are duly considered."! 

This is, in fact, conceding the whole ground in 
debate ; for if it is not safe to go farther than to 
regard the Hebrews as in some cases connecting the 
idea of future misery with this word, it is directly 
and explicitly abandoning it as the name of the 
place of endless misery, in the world of spirits, 
which is the very point in debate. This is a very 
important admission, and with it, we might dismiss 
the whole subject, so far as Universalism is con- 
cerned ; for if the exhibitions of the word, in the 
Old Testament, are such, as to force from one pro- 
fessedly writing against this doctrine, such admis- 
sions, the case must be a sufficiently plain one. 

* Exegetical Essays, p. 111. f Do., p. 114. 



164 



SECTION III. AN EXHIBITION OF THE USAGE OF SHEOL. 

In the Old Testament, we read on this wise :— 

" What man liveth, and seeth not death ? 
Who can deliver himself from the power of the grave ?* 

" And all his sons and all his daughters rose up 
to comfort him ; but he refused to be comforted ; 
and he said, for I will go down into the grave, unto 
my son mourning, "t " My son shall not go down 
with you ; for his brother is dead, and he is left 
alone ; if mischief befall him by the way in which 
ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs 
with sorrow to the grave. "t 

" The waters fail from the lake, 

And the stream drieth up, and disappears j 

So man lieth down, and riseth not ; 

Till the heavens be no more, he shall not awake, 

Nor be roused from his sleep. 

O that thou wouldst hide me in the under-world ! 

That thou wouldst conceal me till thy wrath be past ! "$ 

k{ Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with 
thy might ; for there is no work, nor device, nor 

* Ps. 89 : 48. I shall put the word answering to sheo! in 
small capitals. 

t Gen. 37: 35. 

X Gen. 43 : 38. I may also remark, that quotations from 
Hebrew poetry are from Prof. Noyes' translations, which I 
would commend to all lovers of Hebrew song. 

$ Job 14: 11—13. 



THE HEBREW WORD SHEOL. 165 

knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave whither thou 
goest."^ 

* Therefore my heart is glad, and my spirit rejoiceth ; 
My flesh also dwelleth in security ; 
For thou wilt not give me up to the grave ; 
Nor wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see the pit."f 
" I cried, by reason of my distress ; to Jehovah, 
And he heard me ; 

Out of the depth of the under- woeld I cried, 
And thou didst hear my voice. "| 
" For thy kindness to me hath been great ; 
Thou hast delivered me from the very depths of the 

GRAV£."§ 

" But God will redeem my life from the grave ; 

For he will take me under his protection." || 

" O Lord, thou hast raised me up from the grave ; 

Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the 

pit."! 
" The Lord killeth, and maketh alive ; 
He bringeth down, to the grave, and bringeth up."** 
" I will ransom them from the power of the grave ; 
I will redeem them from death ; 
O death, I will be thy plague ! 
O grave, I would be thy destruction ! " ft 

These texts may serve as a fair sample of the 
manner in which sheol is generally used in the Old 
Testament. Among the learned, I believe there is 
but one opinion as to its meaning in such con- 
nexions. All agree, that the term is used to desig- 
nate " the under-world, the region of the dead, the 
grave, the sepulchre, the region of ghosts or de- 
parted spirits. "It " It was considered as a vast and 

* Eccl. 9 : 10. f Ps. 16 : 10. % Jonah 2 : 2. 

§ Ps. 86 : 13. || Ps. 49 : 15. % Ps. 30 : 3. 

** 1 Sam. 2 : 6. ft Hosea 13 : 14. 

XX Stuart's Exegetical Essays, p. 77. 



166 universalist's assistant. 

wide domain or region, of which the grave seems 
to have been as it were only a part, or a kind of 
entrance-way. It appears to have been regarded 
as extending deep down into the earth, even to its 

lowest abysses In this boundless region 

lived and moved at times, the manes of departed 
friends."^ Dr. Campbell says, it " signifies the 
state of the dead in general, without regard to the 
goodness or badness of the persons, their happiness 
or misery. This state is always represented under 
those figures which suggest something dreadful, 
dark, and silent, about which the most prying eye, 
and listening ear, can acquire no information, "t 

" In the under- world of the Hebrews, there is 
something peculiarly grand and awful. It was an 
immense region, a vast subterranean kingdom, 
involved in thick darkness, filled with deep valleys, 
and shut up with strong gates ; and from it there is 
no possibility of escape. Thither whole hosts of men 
went down at once ; heroes and armies with all 
their trophies of victory; kings and their people 
were found there ; where they had a sort of sha- 
dowy existence, as manes or ghosts, neither entirely 
spiritual nor entirely material, engaged in the em- 
ployments of their earthly life, though destitute of 
strength and physical substance. "♦ 

* Stuart's Exegetical Essays, p. 116. 

f Prelim. Dissertations, Diss. 6, pt. 2, § 2. 

+ South's Lectures on Hebrew Poetry, p. 347. Andover, 

1829. 



THE HEBREW WORD SHEOL. 167 

Dr. Good's description of the ideas of mankind 
in the earlier ages, concerning the dead and their 
state, with a few exceptions, is true of the Hebrews y 
as presented in the use of sheol in the Old Testa- 
ment. " It taught that the disembodied spirit be- 
comes a ghost as soon as it is separated from the 
corporeal frame ; a thin, misty, aerial form, some- 
what larger than life, with a feeble voice, and 
shadowy limbs ; knowledge superior to what it pos- 
sessed while in the flesh ; capable, under particular 
circumstances, of rendering itself visible, and retain- 
ing so much of its former features, as to be recog- 
nized upon its apparition ;^ in a few instances, 
wandering about for a certain period of time after 
death ; but for the most part, conveyed to a com- 
mon receptacle situated in the interior of the 
earth."t 

# This -was tfie idea commonly entertained, not only by 
the Orientals, but seems to have been the common notion 
of mankind generally and in all ages, if it is not some- 
thing kindred to it even at the present time. A fine exhibi- 
tion of the views of the dead, as held by the people of 
northern Europe, may be seen in Ossian^s Poems. See 
the poem entitled Carric-Thura, on pp. 31 — 43. New 
York, 1835, 8vo. 

"He lifted high his shadowy spear! He bent forward 
his dreadful height. Fingal, advancing, drew his sword ; the 
blade of dark-brown Luno. The gleaming path of the 
steel winds through the gloomy ghost. The form fell shape- 
less into air, like a column of smoke, which the staff of the 
boy disturbs, as it rises from the half-extinguished furnace.'* 
p. 37. "The forms were empty winds." pp. 97, 112. 
"The stars dim-twinkled through his form." pp. 144, 284 y 
312, 336. 

fBook of Nature, p. 335; New York, 1831. See also 



168 univetisaltst's assistant. 

That such were the ideas of the Hebrews, is 
sufficiently manifest, from the following texts, in 
addition to those already quoted ; although it can- 
not be doubted, that some considerable change took 
place in their ideas, between the time in which the 
first and the last books of the Old Testament were 
written. 

" Canst thou search out the deep things of God ? 

Canst thou reach the perfection of the Almighty ? 

? Tis high as heaven, what canst thou do? 

Deeper than hell, what canst thou know ? " # 

" Whither shall I go from thy spirit, 

And whither shall I flee from thy presence ? 

If I ascend into heaven, thou art there ! 

If I make my bed in hades, behold, thou art there ! "f 

"Though they dig down to the lower world, 

Thence shall my hand take them. "J 

" Hades beneath is in commotion on account of thee, 

To meet thee at thy coming ; 

He stirreth up before thee the shades, all the mighty of the 

earth ; 
He arouseth from their thrones, all the kings of the nations ; 
They all accost thee, and say, 
Art thou, too, become weak as we ? 
Art thou become like us ? "§ 
"In the day when he went down to the grave, 
I caused the deep to mourn, I covered it for him. 
At the sound of his fall I made the nations to shake, 
"When I cast him down to the grave, 
They also went down into the grave with him, 
To them that have been slain with the sword." || 
" The mightiest heroes from the midst of the pit shall speak 

to him and his helpers ; 

Barnes' Introduction to his Notes on Job, pp. lxxxix — xciv. 
(10) where is a very full and accurate statement of the 
Hebrew views of the future state. 

* Job 11 : 7—8. t P^ 139 : 7, S. $ Amos 9 : 2. 

§ Isaiah 14 : 9. 10. || Ezek. 31 : 10—17. 



THE HEBREW WORD SHEOL. 69 

For they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by 

the sword. 
Shall they not lie with the mighty of the uncircumcised that 

are fallen, 
"Who have gone down to the pit with their weapons of war, 
Having their swords laid under their heads, 
And their iniquity resting upon their bones, 
Though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the 

living? " # 

Comment upon such language as this, is quite 
unnecessary. It confirms, in the most plain and 
explicit manner, the views that have been advanced, 
in regard to the ideas of the Hebrews, concerning 
the realm of the dead, as indicated by the term sheol. 
These texts also show, that this term means some- 
thing widely different from what the English word 
hell does, as now commonly used; though, it is 
beyond all controversy, that " the word hell in its 
primitive signification perfectly corresponded" with 
that of sheolA 

Although all men go to sheol at death, it is often 

* Ezek. 32 : 21 and 27. 

t Campbell's Four Gospels, Prel. Diss. D. 6, P. 2, § 2. 
So Dr. A. Clarke, Com. on Matt. 11: 23. So also Dr. 
Anthon, Class. Die., Art. Had-es ; and Prof. Stuart's Exeget. 
Essays, p. 93. 

Dr. Anthon says, " As regards the analogy between the 
term hades and our English word hell, it may be remarked, 
that the latter, in its primitive signification, perfectly corre- 
sponded to the former. For, at first, it denoted onfy what 
was secret or concealed ; and it is found, moreover, with 
little variation of form, and precisely with the same mean- 
ing, in all the Teutonic dialects." This fact may serve to 
explain the singular use that is made of the term hell in our 
common version of the Scriptures. 

15 



170 universalist's assistant. 

represented as a punishment to be sent there, not 
that men are sent there to be punished. This was 
not the Hebrew idea, however it may be in fact. 
They regarded it a punishment in the same way 
that we now do to die. All men die ; yet death is 
sometimes a punishment. It is so, when men are 
forced out of the world, for their crimes, by the 
executioner's hands. So when men were forced into 
sheol against their wills, in consequence of their 
sins, it was a punishment. Hence it is said, " The 
wicked are driven away in their wickedness ; "* 
and that " the wicked shall be thrust into hehV't 

* Prov. 14 : 32. a7twa^)josrai f from aTtw&tu), to thrust from, 
implying the idea of force, as in driving away an enemy. 
Ps. 43 : 2. 

f Ps. 9 : 17. 



171 



CHAPTER V. 

THE GREEK WORD HADES, COMMONLY RENDERED 

HELL IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, CONSIDERED 

AS AN OBJECTION TO UNIVERSALISM. 

SECTION I. PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 

The word hades is commonly used, in the Greek 
version of the Old Testament, called the Septua- 
gint, as the rendering of the Hebrew word sheol ; 
and it undoubtedly benrs the same general meaning. 
Indeed, this is universally conceded at the present 
day, as it is also, in regard to the primitive mean- 
ing of our English word hell. But the two last 
of these words have undergone very considerable 
changes in their meaning, as we all know is the 
case in regard to our English word hell ; and as 
will appear by a comparison of the New with the 
Old Testament usage of the term hades. To notice 
but one circumstance. In the New Testament, we 
find, in one case at least, an individual represented 
as lifting up his eyes in torment in hades ;* a rep- 
resentation to which there is nothing analogous in 
the Old Testament. But nothing is said as to the 
duration of this torment, even in this individual 
case. 

* Luke 16 : 23. 



172 universalist's assistant. 

Beside, neither in this or any other text where 
hades is used to represent a place of torment, can 
it bear the sense of endless ; for everywhere in the 
Scriptures it is spoken of as a place that is to be 
destroyed. The following texts may serve as ex- 
amples. " And death and hell delivered up the 
dead which were in them. . . . And death and 
hell were cast into the lake of fire,"* " death, 
where is thy sting ? grave, where is thy vic- 
tory ? "t If this be true, how can this be a place 
of endless punishment ? What will become of its 
miseries, when all its inhabitants shall be taken out 
of it ; every knee brought to bow, and every tongue 
to confess to the glory of God; and when at last, 
both the place and its king shall be hurled into 
utter and irretrievable ruin, and a song of triumph 
sung over them ? So plainly do the facts present 
this subject, that the most staunch believers and 
defenders of the doctrine of endless punishment, 
are forced to abandon this term as affording any 
proof of this doctrine. The most they will main- 
tain is, that it is used to denote punishment in an 
intermediate state. $ A time is to come when death 
and hades " are no more to exercise any power over 
the human race."<5> Hence, there is no necessity for 

* Rev. 20: 13, 14. ffcor. 15:55. 

% Campbell's Four Gospels, Diss. 6, P. 2, § 13. Exeget, 
Essays, p. 133. 

§ Stuart's Exeget. Ess., p. 133. "The king of Hades, 
and Hades itself, i.e.. the region or domains of death, are 



THE GREEK WORD HADES. 173 

entering into a lengthy discussion, to show that this 
term affords no argument in favor of the doctrine 
of eternal punishment. We may therefore give our 
entire attention to the consideration of what was 
really meant by this term, by mankind in the past 
ages of the world, and the opinions associated with it. 
This, I trust, will be a subject not altogether devoid 
of interest. It is one invested with great interest 
to every curious mind, that loves to know what men 
have thought in the past. 



SECTION II. — CLASSICAL AND JEWISH USAGE OF THE 
TERM HADES. 

" According to Grecian mythology, hades is the 
place of departed spirits." It is a word formed 
" from a, not, and eido, to see, as denoting the lower 
or invisible world. "^ Prof. Stuart says, " Hades, in 

represented as cast into the burning lake. The general 
judgment being now come, mortality having now been 
brought to a close, the tyrant death, and his domains along 
with him, are represented as cast into the burning lake, as 
objects of abhorrence and of indignation. They are no 
more to exercise any power over the human race." 

" Whatever the state of either the righteous or the wicked 
may be, whilst in Hades, i. e., under the dominion of death, 
that state will certainly cease, and be exchanged for another, 
at the general resurrection." Ibid., p. 136. 

# Anthon's Class. Die, Art. Hades. 

15* 



174 universalist's assistant. 

the view of the Greeks and Romans, was the under- 
world, the world of the dead, a place deep in the 
earth, dark, cheerless ; where everything was un- 
substantial and shadowy. r ^ A few passages from 
the poets will serve to verify these statements, and 
may not be uninteresting. 

"Here in a lonely land, and gloomy cells, 

The dusky nation of Cimmeriaf dwells ; 

The sun ne'er views the uncomfortable seats, 

When radiant he advances or retreats. 

Unhappy race ! whom endless night invades, 

Clouds the dull air, and wraps then round in shades. "+ 

The guide of iEneas, after giving him certain 

directions in regard to preparing for his descent into 

hades, tells him, 

" This done, securely take the destined way, 
To find the regions destitute of day."§ 

This place, like the Hebrew sheol, is represented 
as shut up with gates, and, unlike the latter, guard- 
ed by sentinels. 

" Wide is the fronting gate, and, raised on high 
With adamantine columns, threats the sky. 
Vain is the force of man, and heaven's as vain, 
To crush the pillars which the pile sustain. 
Sublime on these a tower of steel is reared ; 
And dire Tisiphone there keeps the ward, 
Girt in her sanguine gown, by night and day, 

*Exeget. Ess., p. 12S. 

f Cimmeria or Cimmerium, was an imaginary place, 
near the island of iEea, which island lay off the western 
coast of Sicily, and was the fabled abode of Circe and her 
companions.'' — Stuarfs Ext get. Ess., p. 124. 

J Pope's Homer, Odys. xi. 15—20. 

$ Dryden's Virgil, JEr\e\d 6, 231. 



THE GREEK WORD HADES. 175 

Observant of souls that pass the downward way."* 

" The gates of hell are open night and day ; 

Smooth the descent, and easy is the way."f 

" Just in the gate, and in the jaws of hell, 

Revengeful Cares and sullen Sorrows dwell, 

And pale Diseases, and repining Age, 

Want, Fear, and Famine's unresisted rage ; 

Here Toils, and Death, and Death's half-brother Sleep, 

Forms terrible to view, their sentry keep ; 

With anxious pleasures of a guilty mind, 

Deep Frauds before, and open Force behind ; 

The Furies' iron beds ; and Strife, that shakes 

Her hissing tresses, and unfolds her snakes. 

Full in the midst of this infernal road, 

An elm displays her dusky arms abroad ; — 

The god of sleep there hides his heavy head ; 

And empty dreams on ev'ry leaf are spread. 

Of various forms unnumbered spectres move, 

Centaurs, and double shapes, besiege the door. 

Before the passage horrid Hydra stands, 

And Briarius with all his hundred hands ; 

Gorgons, Geryon with his triple frame ; 

And vain Chimgera vomits empty flame. "if 

This place, like sheol, is pervaded by rivers, one 

of which it was necessary to cross on entering it. 

" Hence to deep Acheron § they take their way, 
Whose troubled eddies, thick with ooze and clay, 
Are whirled aloft, and in Cocytus|| lost. 

* Dryden's Virgil, jEneid, vi. 744—751. 

fDo. jEneid, vi. 192. 

| Dryden's Virgil, ^Eneid, vi. 384—403. 

§ " The poets make Acheron to have been the son of Sol 
and Terra, and to have been precipitated into the infernal 
regions and there changed into a river, for having supplied 
the Titans with water during the war which they waged 
with Jupiter. Hence its waters were muddy and bitter ; 
and it was the stream over which the souls of the dead 
were first conveyed." — Anthon's Class. Die, Art. Acheron. 

|| " Cocytus, a river of Epirus, which, according to Pausa- 
nias. blended its nauseous waters with those of the Ache- 
ron." The poets made it one of the rivers of the lower 
world. Ibid., Art. Cocytus. 



176 universalist's assistant. 

There Charon stands, who rules the dreary coast — 

A sordid god ; — down from his hoary chin, 

A length of beard descends, uncombed, unclean ; — 

His eyes, like hollow furnaces on fire : 

A girdle, foul with grease, binds his obscene attire. 

He spreads his canvass ; w T ith his pole he steers ; 

The freights of flitting ghosts in his thin bottom bears. 

He look'd in years ; yet, in his years were seen 

A youthful vigor, and autumnal green." # 

The inhabitants of this dreary realm were the 
unsubstantial shades of the dead, like those of skeoL 
Prof. Stuart says, " The manes were neither body 
nor spirit ; but something intermediate, not palpa- 
ble to any of the senses, except to the sight and 
hearing ; pursuing the mere shadows of their occu- 
pations on earth, and incapable of any plans, enjoy- 
ments, or satisfaction which were substantial."! 
When Ulysses met his mother in the realm of the 
dead, he says, 

" Thrice in my arms I strove her shade to bind, 

Thrice through my arms she slip'd like empty wind, 

Or dreams, the vain illusions of the mind. 

Wild with despair, I shed a copious tide 

Of flowing tears, and thus with sighs replied ; 

Fliest thou, loved shade, while I thus fondly mourn? 

Turn to my arms, to my embraces turn ! 

Is it, ye powers that smile at human harms ! 

Too great a bliss to weep within her arms ? 

Or has hell's queen an empty image sent, 

That wretched I might ev'n my joys lament ? 

Oh son of woe ! the pensive shade rejoiud, 

Oh most inured to grief of all mankind ! 

? T is not the queen of hell who thee deceives ; 

All, all are such, when life the body leaves. 

No more the substance of the man remains, 

*Dryden's Virgil, ^Eneid, vi. 410—421. 
fExeget. Ess.,"p. 218. 



THE HEBREW WORD SHEOL. 



17* 



Nor bounds the blood along the purple veins j 
These the funereal flames in atoms bear, 
To wander with the wind in empty air ; 
While the impassive soul reluctant flies. 
Like a vain dream, to these infernal skies." # 
" Comest thou alive to view the Stygian bounds, 
Where the wan spectres walk eternal rounds ; 
Nor fear'st the dark and dismal waste to tread, 
Thronged with pale ghosts, familiar with the dead? ; 'f 

4 ' The dead, without distinction of good or evil, 
age or rank, wander there, conversing about their 
former state on earth ; they are unhappy, and they 
feel their wretched state acutely. They have no 
strength or power of body or mind. . . . Noth- 
ing can be more gloomy and comfortless than the 
whole aspect of the realm of hades, as pictured by 
Homer."! Hence, when Ulysses congratulated 
Achilles on account of the honorable position he 
held in this realm, his reply is, — 

" Talk not of ruling in this dolorous gloom, 

Nor think vain words, he cried, can ease my doom. 

Rather I 'd choose laboriously to bear 

A weight of woes, and breathe the vital air, 

A slave to some poor hind that toils for bread, 

Than reign the sceptred monarch of the dead."§ 

" The chief beheld their chariots from afar, 

Their shining arms, and coursers trained to war, 

Their lances fix'd in earth — their steeds around, 

Free from their harness, graze the mimic || ground. 

* Pope's Homer, Odys., xi. 248—268. f Do. xi. 583—586. 

f Antkon's Class. Die, Art. Pluto. 

§ Pope's Homer, Odyssey, xi. 595 — 600. 

|| I have substituted " mimic," from Dr. Good's transla- 
tion, as more in conformity with the spirit of the passage, 
than " flom'ry," which Pope uses. — Book of Nature, p. 336. 
New York. 1831. 



178 UNIVERSALIS!^ ASSISTANT. 

The love of horses which they had, alive, 
And care of chariots, after death survive."* 

11 In the Homeric times, the prevalent belief was 
merely as follows; that the souls of the departed, 
with the exception of those who had personally of- 
fended against the gods, were occupied in the lower 
world with the unreal performances of the same 
actions that had formed their chief objects of pur- 
suit in the regions of day."t " Some few, enemies 
of the gods, such as Sisyphus, Tityus, Tantalus, are 
punished for their crimes, but not apart from the rest 
of the dead."t- 

" In process of time, when communication with 
Egypt and Asia had enlarged the sphere of the 
ideas of the Greeks, the nether world underwent a 
total change. It was now divided into two separate 
regions ; Tartarus, which, in the time of Homer and 
Hesiod, was thought to lie far beneath it, and to be 
the prison of the Titans, became one of these 
regions, and the place of punishment for wicked 
men ; and Elysium, which lay on the shore of the 
stream of Ocean, the retreat of the children and 
relatives of the king of the gods, was moved down 
thither to form the place of reward for good men."<5> 

According to " the new-modified under-world, " 
in the days of Virgil, Hades was the residence of 
souls, to prepare them to reanimate new bodies in 

* Dryden's Virgil, ^Eneid, vi., 885—890. 

fAnthon's Class. Die, Art. Hades, t Do. Art. Pluto. § Do. 



THE HEBREW WORD SHEOL. 179 

this world. " The Eiver of Oblivion" was intro- 
duced, of which the dead were to drink, that they 
might forget the past, before taking possession of 
new bodies.^ 

" Now, in a secret vale, the Trojan sees 

A sep'rate grove, through which a gentle breeze 

Plays with a passing breath, that whispers through the 

trees ; 
And, just before the confines of the wood, 
The gliding Lethe leads her silent flood. 
About the boughs an airy nation flew, 
Thick as the humming bees, that hunt the golden dew 
In summer's heat ; on tops of lilies feed, 
And creep within their bells, to suck the balmy seed ;— 
The winged army roams the field around ; 
The rivers and the rocks remurmur to the sound. 
JEneas wond'ring stood, then ask'd the cause 
Which to the stream the crowding people draws. 
Then thus the sire ; — The souls that throng the flood, 
Are those to whom, by Fate, are other bodies owed. 
In Lethe's lake they long oblivion taste, 
Of future life secure, forgetful of the past. 



O Father ! can it be, that souls sublime 
Return to visit our terrestrial clime, 
And that the gen'rous mind, released by death, 
Can covet lazy limbs, and mortal breath ? " 

In reply Anchises goes into a very particular 
statement of the reasons for such an arrangement, 
and among other things says, 



nor can the grovelling mind, 



In the dark dungeon of the limbs confined, 

# " In the sixth book of Virgil's iEneid will be found the 
richest and fullest description of the new-modified under- 
world, and for those who love to trace the progress and 
change of ideas, it will not be an uninteresting employ- 
ment to compare it with that in the eleventh book of Ho- 
mer's Odyssey." Anthon's Class. Die, Art. Pluto. 



180 un.iversalist's ASSISTANT. 

Assert the native skies, or own its heav'nly kind ; 

Nor death itself can wholly wash their slams ; 

But long-contracted filth ev'n in the soul remains. 

The relics of invet'rate vice they wear ; 

And spots of sin obscene in ev'ry face appear. 

For this are various penances enjoin'd ; 

Some are hung to bleach upon the wind, 

Some plunged in waters, others purged in fires, 

Till all the dregs are drain'd, and all the rust expires. 

All have their manes, and those manes bear ; — 

The few, so cleansed, to these abodes repair, 

And breathe, in ample fields, the soft Elysian air. 

Then they are happy, when by length of time 

The scurf is worn away of each committed crime ; 

No speck is left of their habitual stains ; 

But the pure ether of the soul remains. 

But, when a thousand rolling years are past, — 

So long their punishments and penance last, — 

Whole droves of minds are, by the driving god, 

Compell'd to drink the deep Lethean flood, 

In large forgetful draughts, to steep the cares 

Of their past labors and their irksome years, 

That, unrememb'ring of its former pain, 

The soul may suffer mortal flesh again."* 

Such were the views entertained by the most 
enlightened heathen nations, of the realm of the 
dead. And nothing can be more obvious to any one 
who goes into a careful examination of the subject, 
than that the views of the Greeks and Romans 
underwent a gradual change, relative to hades, be- 
tween the days of Homer and those of Virgil. A 
similar change took place in the Hebrew mind, be- 
tween the days of Moses and those of our Saviour, so 
that, in his times, the opinions of the Jews, concern- 
ing the world of spirits, very nearly coincided with 

*Dryden ? s Virgil, .Eneid, vi., 953—1020. 



THE HEBREW WORD SHEOL. 181 

those entertained by the Greeks and the Romans, 
as above described.^ There was, probably, some 
diversity of opinion among them ; but these, or opin- 
ions very nearly like them, generally prevailed in 
the times of the Saviour, among the Pharisees in 
particular. Unlike both the Greeks in Homer's 
time, and the Hebrews in the days of Moses and 
the prophets, both the Greeks and Jews of these la- 
ter periods, divided hades into two parts, the place 
of happiness and the place of misery. So, too, both 
came to believe, that, after a certain number of years, 
souls returned to the earth to inhabit other bodies. t 
11 The Jews did not, indeed, adopt the pagan fables, 
on this subject, nor did they express themselves, en- 
tirely, in the same manner ; but the general train of 
thinking, in both, came pretty much to coincide. 
The Greek hades they found well adapted to ex- 

* Campbell's Four Gospels, Diss. 6, Pt. 2, § 19. 

f"The prevalent and distinguishing opinion was, that 
the soul survived the body, that vicious souls would suffer 
an everlasting imprisonment in hades, and that the souls of 
the virtuous would both be happy there, and, in process of 
time, obtain the privilege of transmigrating iuto other 
bodies. ..... That this Pythagorian dogma was be- 
come pretty general among the Jews, appears even from 
some passages in the Gospels." Campbell's Four Gospels, 
Diss. 6, Pt. 2, § 19. So of the Pharisees, it is said by Jose- 
phus — " They also believe that souls have an immortal vigor 
in them, and that, under the earth, there will be rewards and 
punishments, according as they have lived virtuously or 
viciously in this life ; and the latter are to be detained in an 
everlasting prison, but that the former shall have power to 
revive and live again." Antiquities, B. 18, Ch. 1, § 3. 
Whiston's Tr. 

16 



182 universalist's assistant. 

press the Hebrew sheol. This they came to con- 
ceive as including different sorts of habitations, for 
ghosts of different characters. And, though they 
did not receive the terms Elysium, or Ely sian fields, 
as suitable appellations for the regions peopled by 
good spirits, they took, instead of them, as better 
adapted to their own theology, the garden of Eden, 
or Paradise, a name originally Persian, by which 
the word answering to garden, especially when ap- 
plied to Eden, had commonly been rendered, by the 
Seventy. To denote the same state, they sometimes 
used the phrase Abraham's bosom, a metaphor bor- 
rowed from the manner in which they reclined at 
meals. But, on the other hand, to express the un- 
happy situation of the wicked, in that intermediate 
state, they do not seem to have declined the use of 
the word tartarus."* 

So much for the classical and Jewish usage of the 
term hades ; from which it appears, by the facts pre- 
sented and the best authority, that the ideas of the 
Greeks and Romans, and those of the Jews of our 
Saviour's time, very nearly coincided. It now re- 
mains for us to examine the New Testament usage 
of this term. 

* Campbell's Four Gospels, Diss. 6, Pt. 2, § 19. 



183 



SECTION III. — NEW TESTAMENT USAGE OF THE TERM 

HADES. 

Having exhibited the classical and Jewish view 
of the meaning of the term hades, the question very 
naturally arises, — Did the writers of the New Tes- 
tament use it in the same sense ? I say the New 
Testament, because it is with this alone that we 
are now concerned ; as the Old Testament represen- 
tation of the under- world was exhibited in the con- 
sideration of the meaning of the term sheol. 

I think no man, who has paid the slightest atten- 
tion to the manner in which this term is used in 
the New Testament, can, for one moment, doubt, 
what answer to return to this question. Such a 
person must admit, that so far as usage is con- 
cerned, the evidence is most conclusive, that the 
writers of the New Testament used this term, nei- 
ther in precisely the same sense as the classics, 
nor yet in that of the Jews of their time ; but in the 
more general sense of the Septuagint translation of 
the Old Testament, and entirely in conformity with 
the earlier usage of the Hebrew word sheol, for the 
state of the dead in general, as beneath the surface 
of the ground. An example or two will verify this 
view. " Thou Capernaum, which art exalted to 
heaven, shalt be brought down to hades ;"* i. e., 

* Matt. 11 : 23. 



184 universalist's assistant. 

you who are exalted to the highest point of gran- 
deur and magnificence, and enjoy the highest privi- 
leges, shall be brought down to lowest depths of 
degradation and ruin. " Thou wilt not leave my 
soul in hades ; nor suffer thy holy one to see cor- 
ruption ;"* i. e., thou wilt not permit my spirit to 
remain in the state of the dead, until my body shall 
decay. Hence Prof. Stuart says, " We here find it 
sometimes employed in almost or quite a literal 
sense, i. e., as meaning world beneath, under-world ; 
sometimes in a sense similar to that of Orcus or 
Infernus, i. e., the place of departed souls ; and 
sometimes in the sense of kingdom or region of the 
dead,"] And afterwards he adds — " That the 
Hebrews used the Greek word hades, so as to cor- 
respond in general with their sheol, is quite plain. 
.... We can no more argue that hades, as used 
by them, did in all respects mean the same as it did 
among the Greeks, than we can argue in like man- 
ner in regard to the use of the words theos, angelos, 
soter"% etc. 

So much for the general sense in which the 
writers of the New Testament used the term hades. 
But although they commonly used it in perfect con- 
formity with the Old Testament usage of sheol, yet 
there are instances in which it seems to me, the 
New Testament writers used it in a sense peculiar 
to themselves. They seem to have used it in more 

* Acts 2 : 31. f Exeget. Ess., p. 129. % Ibid., p. 136. 



NEW TESTAMENT USAGE OF HADES. 185 

of a spiritual sense, for the state of the dead, with- 
out any reference to the locality — whether it is in 
the sky, under the earth, or somewhere else. This 
seems a necessary inference from the general char- 
racter of their language, in reference to a future 
state. Hence, when Christ rose from the dead and 
went to heaven, he is represented as going up into 
heaven.* So Stephen, when he was stoned, looked 
up into heaven and saw God and Christ.t So St. 
Paul says " he was caught up into paradise. "t So 
too, it is asked — " Who shall ascend into heaven ? 
that is, to bring Christ down, or who shall descend, 
into the deep ? that is, to bring Christ up again from 
the dead."§ How are we to reconcile this language 
with the prevalent view, that both the place of hap- 
piness and that of misery are down beneath the sur- 
face of the ground ? It appears to me, the only way 
to solve the difficulty is, to suppose they used the 
term hades, in a modified sense, for the world of 
spirits, the same as they have the word anastasis, 
translated in our common version, resurrection, in 
the general sense of future life, without reference 
to the manner of attaining it. II 



* Mark 6 : 9. Luke 24 : 15. f Acts 7 : 55. 

X 2 Cor. 12 : 2—4. § Rom. 1Q : 7. 

|| The word avaoraaig was used by the Jews in the times 
of oar Saviour to designate a sort of metempsychosis or trans- 
migration of souls ; while nothing can be more obvious, 
than that no such thing was intended by it, as used by 
Christ and his apostles. Campbell's Four Gospels, Dis. 6, 

16* 



186 universalist's assistant. 

There is one instance of a peculiar usage of the 
term in question. Unlike all other passages in 
which it occurs, it represents an individual as lifting 
up his eyes in torment, in hades. Standing out by 
itself as it does, an exception to all other occurrences 
of the word, it seems but just that it receive espe- 
cial attention. A separate section, therefore, will 
be devoted to its consideration. 



SECTION IV. EXPOSITION OF LUKE 16: 23. 

The language of this text is — " The rich man 
also died ; and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being 
in torments." The connection in which these 
words are found, and the discourse of which it 
makes a part, is confessedly a parable ; and it will 
at once be perceived, by every one who will take the 
pains to read it with any tolerable degree of atten- 
tion, that it was addressed to the Jews, who per- 
sisted in the rejection of Jesus, as the Messiah, in 
the face, and in defiance, of the clearest and most 
convincing testimony. And not only so, but they 
perverted the teachings of Moses, and the prophets, 
so as to answer their own base and selfish designs 

Pt. 2, § 19. "The immortality of human souls, and the 
transmigration of the good, seem to have been all they com- 
prehended in the phrase avaaraoic twv vty.qwv. Indeed, the 
words strictly denote no more than the renewal of life." 



NEW TESTAMENT USAGE OF HADES. 187 

and purposes. Hence the parable closes with these 
words ; — " If they hear not Moses and the prophets, 
neither would they be persuaded, though one rose 
from the dead." To illustrate this fact, the parable 
was uttered — their perversity, and their hardened 
and determined obstinacy. And the statement was 
fully demonstrated, by their subsequent conduct, 
in relation to the resurrection of Jesus himself. 
They had no more faith in him after his resurrec- 
tion, than they had before. It was to rebuke them 
for their perverseness and obstinacy, that this para- 
ble was spoken. This was its main design, while, 
perhaps, in its arrangement, there was a subordi- 
nate purpose, to expose and rebuke some of their 
theological opinions, which had a direct bearing 
upon their practices, with a peculiar reference to 
their future condition. 

The whole parable, I regard a sort of argumen- 
turn ad hominem, as the logicians say ; or an argu- 
ment against them, drawn from their own admitted 
doctrines and notions. Jesus does not state his 
own belief upon this subject; but admits, for the 
sake of the argument, their peculiar notions about 
the future state, without intending to sanction them 
as true thereby. He then takes two individuals, 
one whose character and circumstances were per- 
fectly conformable to their ideas of moral rectitude. 
A man who enjoyed all the advantages of wealth, so 
far as position in society and leisure to seek his own 



188 universalist's assistant. 

good and happiness were concerned — one who was 
chargeable with no particular immoralities or crimes; 
an individual we should now term a very good, 
moral sort of a man, who did no one any particular 
good or hurt ; an inefficient, good-natured, harmless, 
unconcerned sort of a character, intent upon secur- 
ing his own selfish gratification ; a man who was 
disposed to do a favor for a fellow if he came in his 
way, and it would not cost him too much effort, or 
interfere very much with his own ease or pleasure ; 
a man who lived chiefly to pamper his appetites and 
passions, without concerning himself much about 
other people's happiness or misery. Such a selfish 
mortal, as a Jew, they supposed, when dead, and 
his body composed in the tomb, was sure of enter- 
ing into the society and becoming a favorite of Abra- 
ham in the future world. 

He then introduces another individual in contrast 
with this man, whose condition and circumstances 
are as different as possible. He is a miserable beg- 
gar, whose body was a mass of disease. He was 
so covered with ulcers, that he was an object of 
loathing and abhorrence to all who might approach 
him. In the eye of a Jew, the very circumstance of 
an individual's being in so miserable a condition, 
was the most conclusive evidence, that he had been 
guilty of some enormous and shocking crime,^ for 

# Luke 13 : 1 — 5. See Kenrick's remarks on this place. 
Also Barnes, Livermore, Paige and others in loco. 



NEW TESTAMENT USAGE OF HADES. 1S9 

which he was doomed to drag out a miserable exist- 
ence here, as a prelude to a more miserable exist- 
ence hereafter. 

Both of these men die. One in his splendid 
mansion, surrounded by friends and magnificence 
to minister to his wants and soothe the pangs of 
mortal disease, and he is buried in pomp and splen- 
dor; while the other departs in loneliness, and is 
either denied the rite of burial, or hurried away to 
his grave by his few poor and destitute friends, or 
by some stranger, in so private a manner, that the 
event is unnoticed. 

Jesus then chances the scene from this to 
the world of the dead, as their imaginations 
had conceived it, and there presents them with 
these individuals in circumstances entirely reversed. 
The rich man now is in miserable circumstances, 
and becomes the one to ask favors of him who had 
been deemed unfit to be received into his mansion 
on earth. All this was subordinate to the main 
design of the parable, to expose to them their false 
views of the means of securing future bliss ; to show 
them, that according to their own views of a future 
world, they had entirely mistaken the grounds of 
admittance to a condition of happiness in that state ; 
that instead of being what they had supposed, 
a faithful observance of the rites of the ceromonial 
law, a descendance from Abraham, and a decent 
regard to the laws of morality — a sort of negative 



190 universalist's assistant. 

goodness — it demands a positive goodness — purity 
and benevolence of heart, which looks beyond self 
and selfish gratifications, upon the great world of suf- 
fering humanity, and will prompt the individual to 
active efforts for human good — efforts that will 
demand some sacrifice of personal ease and selfish 
gratification. 

A conversation is then introduced, as being car- 
ried on between Abraham and this rich man, who 
mutually acknowledge each other as father and son, 
in allusion, probably, to the fact of his being a true 
son of the Jewish church, first in relation to his own 
condition, and then in r -Terence to his Jewish 
brethren. These, he evidently regarded, as on the 
direct road to the same condition as he very unex- 
pectedly found himself in ; and that the only way 
for them to escape, was by reformation, for which 
he manifested no little anxiety. This was the 
point at which the whole parable is aimed — to 
show, that according to their own views, the whole 
of them were on the direct road to a place of mis- 
ery, which they had supposed expressly fitted up 
and solely for heathens and some exceedingly wick- 
ed persons ; such as suicides, and those guilty of 
enormous and shocking crimes ; and that they were 
so wrapped up and deluded with self-righteous- 
ness, and so full of obstinacy, that they would 
hearken to no warning voice, not even of one from 
the dead. Such is my view of the meaning of this 



NEW TESTAMENT USAGE OF HADES. 191 

parable. But I do not suppose that Jesus meanc, 
in this, to sanction their views of the future world 
as true, more than the writer of the Acts of the 
Apostles intended to be understood as admitting the 
reality of the existence and supernatural power of 
the heathen deity, Apollo, in saying that a certain 
girl was possessed of the spirit of Python.^ It 
was merely confuting some of their errors and 
rebuking their obstinacy, by admitting their own 
opinions. And this was most effectually done, in 
putting the rebuke into the mouth of their father 
Abraham, on whose account they claimed such 
high prerogatives. 

How far this parable may be urged in favor of 
the opinion, that the consequences of sin do extend 
beyond this life, may, perhaps, be a question. Al- 
though I believe, most firmly, that the consequences 
of sin do extend beyond this life, I cannot rely upon 
this text as proof of it. I think it no evidence that 
Jesus entertained such a view, because the whole 
structure of the story recognizes and is founded 
upon the common opinions of the Jews and hea- 
thens, which were substantially the same, and I 
cannot bring myself to believe, that he meant to be 
understood, as teaching, that these views were in 
conformity with the actual state of things in the 
world of spirits. 

In regard to the idea, that this text teaches the 

* See p. 61, of this work, note. 



192 universalist's assistant. 

doctrine of endless misery, nothing can be more 
groundless ; for not a word is said or intimated, as 
to the duration of the states of either of these men. 
That, of necessity, depended upon their continuing 
to sustain their respective characters, even if the 
parable was designed as an express recognition of 
the truth of the doctrine of future punishment.^ 
Beside this, there is no truth more clearly revealed 
in the Bible, than that hades itself is to be destroyed, 
and a song of triumph sung over it by man.t 

In regard to the impassable gulf, upon which the 
idea, that the punishment mentioned in this para- 
ble is to be endless, there is really no argument 
afforded by it, in favor of this opinion, even admit- 
ting it was designed to recognize the truth of the 
doctrine of future punishment; because there is 
just as impassable a gulf between the good and the 
bad in this world, as in the next. A good man, 
while good, can no more enter into the state of the 
bad here, than he can hereafter ; nor the bad into 
that of the good. Still all admit, that those now 
bad men may get into the state of the good any 
time, while they remain in this world at least. In- 
deed, it is one of the leading aims of the gospel to 
secure this, by removing this great gulf out of the 
way, which it does by converting bad into good 



* See pp. 129—133, of this work. 
t See p. 172 of this work, note. 



NEW TESTAMENT USAGE OF HADES. 193 

men. Hence we read of men's passing from death 
unto life ; # and of their being translated from the 
kingdom of darkness into that of God's dear Son.t 
It is not man's outward condition, which constitutes 
his essential happiness or misery, as a moral being ; 
but his inward state. The only obstacle in the way 
of any man's entrance into a state of happiness, is 
his own moral condition. This is the impassable 
gulf fixed in every wicked man's path, and the only 
one in any world; not an outward barrier. So that, 
although this gulf is impassable, a way is provided 
by which it may be removed out of every man's 
path. Let him become a good man and it will 
vanish away, no matter where he is, whether in 
this world or the next. 

* John 5: 24. fCol. 1: 13. 

17 



194 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE GREEK WORD TARTARUS, RENDERED HELL 
IN OUR COMMON VERSION OF THE NEW TES- 
TAMENT, CONSIDERED AS AN OBJEC- 
TION TO UNIVERSALISM. 

The word Tartarus* does not occur in the Scrip- 
tures at all; "but a denominative verb, tartarobj 
which means to send to Tartarus, to confine in 
Tartarus, to punish in Tartarus, occurs in " one 
place. X " Here it is said, that God spared not the 
angels who sinned, but confining them in Tartarus, 
he put them in chains of darkness, incarcerated for 
trial or kept for judgment. "§ This is an exceed- 
ingly tame rendering of the original, and falls very 
far short of giving anything like its full force. A 
more literal rendering would be, " but hurled them 
down to hell ;"ll or " thrust them down to Tartarus. "H 
The term tartarosas** conveys the idea of violence 
or force directed against the wishes and efforts of 
an antagonist. 

In the Greek mythology, Tartarus was " the 
fabled place of punishment in the Lower world. 

* TaQraQog. f TctQTctQuw. % 2 Pet. 2: 4. 

§ Stuart's Exeget. Ess., p. 137. 

|| Donnegan's Lex., in raoTaoow. 

If Robinson's Greek Lex. Ibid. ** xaQraQcoaagr 



THE GREEK WORD TARTARUS. 195 

According to the ideas of the Homeric and Hesiodic 
ages, it would seem that the world or universe was 
a hollow globe, divided into two equal portions by 
the flat disk of the earth. The external shell of 
this globe is called by the poets Irazen and iron, 
probably only to express its solidity. The superior 
hemisphere was named Heaven, and the inferior 
one Tartarus. The length of the diameter of the 
hollow sphere is given thus by Hesiod. It would 
take, he says, nine days for an anvil to fall from 
Heaven to Earth ; and an equal space of time 
would be occupied by its fall from Earth to the bot- 
tom of Tartarus. The luminaries which give light 
to gods and men, shed their radiance through all 
the interior of the upper hemisphere, while that of 
the inferior one was filled with eternal darkness, 
and its still air was unmoved by any wind. Tarta- 
rus was regarded, at this period, as the prison of 
the gods, and not as the place of torment for wicked 
men ; being to the gods, what Erebus was to men, 
the abode of those who were driven from the super- 
nal world. The Titans, when conquered, were 
shut up in it, and Jupiter menaces the gods with 
banishment to its murky regions. The Oceanus 
of Homer encompassed the whole earth, and beyond 
it was a region unvisited by the sun, and therefore 
shrouded in perpetual darkness, the abode of a peo- 
ple whom he names Cimmerians. Here the poet 
of the Odyssey also places Erebus, the realm of 



196 TJNIVERS A LIST'S ASSISTANT. 

Pluto and Proserpina, the final dwelling-place 
of all the race of men, a place which the poet of 
the Iliad describes as lying within the bosom of 
the earth. At a later period, the change of reli- 
gions gradually affected Erebus, the place of the 
reward of the good ; and Tartarus was raised up, 
to form the prison in which the wicked suffered the 
punishment due to their crimes." 3 * 

Prof. Stuart says, " Tartarus is employed, in 
Greek, to designate a supposed subterranean region, 
as deep down below the upper part of Hades as the 
earth is distant from heaven, "t A few passages 
from the classics relating to this subject, may not be 
altogether uninteresting. Jupiter is represented as 
forbidding all the gods from interfering in a battle 
about to be fought, and threatening them, if disobe- 
dient, in these words, — 

"What god but enters yon forbidden field, 

Who yields assistance, or but wills to yield, 

Back to the skies, with shame, he shall be driven, 

Gash'd with dishonest wounds, the scorn of heaven. 

Or far, oh far from steep Olympus thrown, 

Low in the dark Tartarean gulf shall groan, 

With burning chains fix'd to the brazen floors, 

And lock'd by hell's inexorable doors ; 

As deep beneath the infernal centre hurled, 

As from that centre to the ethereal world. "J 

In speaking of this place Virgil makes nearly the 
same representation, and describes it only as the 
place where the gods are punished. 

* Anthon's Class. Die, Art. Tartarvs. f Essays, p. 137. 
t Pope's Homer, Iliad, B. viii. 11—20. 



NEW TESTAMENT USAGE OF HADES. 197 

"'Tis here, in different paths, the way divides; — 
The right to Pluto's golden palace guides, 
The left to that unhappy region tends, 
Which to the depths of Tartarus descends — 
The seat of night profound and punished fiends. 

The gaping gulf low to the centre lies, 
And twice as deep as earth is distant from the skies. 
The rivals of the gods, the Titan race, 
Here, singed with lightning, roll within th' unfathomed 
space. " # 

From what has been said, it will be seen, that Tar- 
tarus is only a part of Hades. According to the older 
classics, it was the place where the gods only were 
confined. But in later times it came to be regarded 
as a place of punishment for wicked men. Hence, 
Prof. Stuart says; — "It is not improbable that the 
general conception of Hades, as meaning the region 
of the dead, comprised both an Elysium and a 
Tartarus, or a state of happiness and a state of 
misery."! That such was the fact in the more 
modern times, particularly among the Jews, admits 
of little doubt. 

Now the question is, did the apostle, in the text 
under consideration, mean to be understood to teach 
the same doctrine as the heathen and the Jews of 
his time held ? Did he mean to be understood to 
say, that, beneath the surface of the ground, there 
was a vast region, to which all men go at death, 
and that that region was divided into a place of 

* Dryden's Virgil, jEneid vi. 726—783. f Essays, p. 135. 
17* 



198 universalist's assistant. 

happiness and a place of misery ? If he adopted 
the heathen or Jewish ideas upon this subject, 
between whom there was little difference, except in 
the use of terms, such must have been what he 
meant. But who will pretend to defend such an 
opinion ? I hardly think any one can be found 
willing to accept such a christianized heathenism. 
Beside, if the apostle intended to describe a place 
of future punishment by the use of this word, it 
must have been regarded merely as temporary ; for 
these angels were only confined there to await their 
trial. Such a confinement, of course, is limited in 
its duration, whatever may follow the trial. 

The term Tartarus " is occasionally employed, in 
the later classic writers, for the under- world in 
general."^ In other words, it is employed to sig- 
nify not the prison of Hades alone, but the same as 
Hades itself. So similiar is it to the language in 
one of the Psalms, that one is almost forced to think 
the apostle had that text in his mind when he 
penned this. "The wicked shall be turned into 
hell."t That is, they should come to a violent 
death — should be forced out of this world and into 
the future, against their wills and efforts. So these 
angels, be they what they may, were forced out of 
the state or mode of existence in which they were, 
into another and untried condition. This view of its 
meaning is confirmed by the circumstance, that it is 

* Stuart's Exeget. Ess., p. 137. f Ps. 9 : 17. 



NEW TESTAMENT USAGE OF HADES. 199 

described as a place of darkness. " Delivered them 
into chains of darkness." This goes strongly to 
confirm the opinion, that Tartarus is here used in 
the sense of sheol and hades; for these terms always 
denote a place of darkness. 



200 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE HEBREW-GREEK WORD GEHENNA ALWAYS 

RENDERED HELL IN THE COMMON VERSION 

OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, CONSIDERED 

AS AN OBJECTION TO UNIVERSALISM. 

SECTION I. PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 

The term Gehenna is the one universally fixed 
upon by the advocates of the " absolute eternity" 
of punishment, as the name of the place where it is 
to be inflicted, " That gehenna is employed in the 
New Testament, to denote the place of future 
punishment, prepared for the devil and his angels, 
is indisputable. This is the sense, if I mistake not, 
in which Gehenna is always to be understood in the 
New Testament, where it occurs just twelve 
times. "* " It is a word peculiar to the Jews, and 
was employed by them some time before the com- 
ing of Christ, to denote that part of sheol which was 
the habitation of the wicked after death. This is 
proved by the fact of its familiar use in the New 
Testament, and by the fact of its being found in 
the apocrypha books and Jewish Targums, some of 
which were written before the time of our Sa- 

* Campbell's Four Gospels, Diss. 6, Pt. 2, § 1. 



THE 



WORD GEHENNA. 201 



viour."^ By future punishment is here intended 
endless punishment. 

Such is the ground assumed by the believers in 
the doctrine of endless punishment, and the ques- 
tion is — Is it; well founded? It is admitted, that 
the Pharisees and the Essenes, in the times of our 
Saviour, believed in the endless punishment of the 
wicked, and the question to be settled is — Did they 
use the term Gehenna to describe the place where 
this punishment was to be inflicted ? That it was 
used by the Jews, some hundreds of years after 
Christ, to designate the place of the damned, is 
freely admitted. " It is admitted, that the Jews of 
a later date, used the word Gehenna to denote Tar- 
tarus, that is, the place of infernal punishment. "t 
The Christians of the second century so understood 
the matter. Clemens Alexandrirms says — " Does 
not Plato acknowledge both the rivers of fire, and 
that profound depth of the earth which the bar- 
bariansj call Gehenna ? Does he not mention pro- 
phetically, Tartarus, Cocytus, Acheron, the Phlege- 
thon of fire, and certain other places of punishment, 
which lead to correction and discipline ? "9 

But the question is not what were the facts in 
regard to the usage of this term some centuries 
after Christ. It is — What are they as presented at 

* Tract 224, p. 31. f Stuart's Exeget. Ess., p. 141. 
% By barbarians, is here intended the Jews. 
$ Universalist Expositor, Vol. 2, pp. 366, 367. 



202 universalist's assistant. 

and before his time ? The whole force of the argu- 
ment, a priori as it is, depends upon its being 
made out by fair and unexceptionable testimony — 
by witnesses which cannot be impeached — that the 
term gehenna was so used at that precise time. 
Testimony as to what was the state of the case at a 
subsequent period, is only a presumption as to what 
was the fact at that time. It is only an argument 
a posteriori, which would be entitled to considerable 
weight, if not arrested by any conflicting circum- 
stances, belonging to that earlier period. 

Now the appeal is made, to sustain the position, 
that Gehenna is used as the name of the place of 
infernal punishment by the Jews, as we have seen, 
to certain Jewish writings, called the Targums and 
the Talmuds,^ and also to the apocryphal writ- 
ings of the Old Testament. There are two ques- 
tions to be settled in regard to these writings, before 
they can be admitted as testimony in the case. 
The first is — Is this term found in these writings ? 
If so, were they written about the time or before 
the days of our Saviour? If both these questions 
are answered in the affirmative, and it occurs in 

# It may here be remarked, that the Targums are trans- 
lations of the Old Testament into Chaldee, though they 
are, in fact, in many instances, mere paraphrases of the 
original. The word Tar^um means translation. Horn's 
Intro., Vol. 2, p. 157. Phil. 1831. The Tahmuls are a 
collection of Jewish traditions, called the Mishna, to which 
are attached comments, called the Gemara, for their elucida- 
tion. Prideaux's Connexions, Vol. 1, p. 269. Baltimore, 
1833. 



THE WORD GEHENNA. 203 

such a sense, then the witness is competent to tes- 
tify in the case ; and if unequivocal, it must settle 
the question ; but if not, the testimony cannot be 
accepted. It must be rejected as inapposite to the 
case. 

That the word occurs in the Targums and Tal- 
muds, I believe is admitted on all hands, and the 
question is, — When were they written? Do they 
belong to a period about the time of our Saviour, or 
not ? The whole matter depends upon the answer to 
this question. Is it certain, then, that these writings 
were composed before or about the commencement 
of the Christian era ? I answer, no. Their date is 
extremely uncertain, as an appeal to the statements 
of the critics will show. 

The oldest of these writings in which the term 
Gehenna occurs, in the sense of a place of future 
punishment, is the Targum of Jonathan Ben Uzziel, 
where it is said to occur several times in this sense. 
To what age does this book belong? " Most of the 
eminent critics now agree, that it could not have 
been completed till some time between two and four 
hundred years after Christ."^ " Neither the lan- 
guage nor the method of interpretation is the same 
in all the books. In the historical works, the text 
is translated with greater accuracy than elsewhere ; 
in some of the prophets, as in Zechariah, the inter- 
pretation has more of the Rabbinical and Talmudical 

* Univ. Expos., Vol. 2, p. 368. 



204 universalist's assistant. 

character. From this variety we may properly in- 
fer, that the work is a collection of interpretations 
of several learned men, made toward the close of 
the third century, and containing some of a much 
older date ; for that some parts of it existed as early 
as in the second century, appears from the additions 
which have been transferred from some Chaldee 
paraphrase into the Hebrew text, and were already 
in the text in the second century."^ Others have 
assigned its date to the third, fourth, and even as 
late as the eighth century. t 

Thus it will be seen, that the date of this book is 
exceedingly uncertain, and that all that can be 
adduced to establish this point, is little better than 
mere conjecture. Now a book, the date of which is 
so extremely uncertain as this is, cannot be very 
good evidence of the usage of a word at a specific 
time, in the absence of all other testimony. 
Especially is this the case, when we know a very 
great change took place in the opinions and phrase- 
ology of the Jews, between that period and the 
earliest date assigned this book by any sober and 
judicious critic. I It has been well said, that " from 

* Jahn's Intro, to the 0. T., p. 66. Home's Intro., Vol. 2, 
p. 160. 

t Univ. Expos., Vol. 2, p. 368. 

X Perhaps an exception should be made of Gesenius, who 
maintains the higher antiquity of this work ; but his views 
are not adopted by the more recent German critics. They 
still adhere to the opinion of its later date. 



THE WORD GEHENNA. 205 

the time of Josephus onwards, there is an interval of 
about a century, from which no Jewish writings 
have descended to us. This was a period of dread- 
ful change and ruin with that distracted people. 
Their body politic was dissolved ; the whole system 
of their ceremonial religion had been crushed in the 
fall of their city and temple ; and they themselves, 
scattered abroad, were accursed on all the face of the 
earth. In these circumstances, it was natural that 
their sentiments and usages should undergo a rapid 
modification ; and if we may judge from the state 
in which we find their doctrine, when their own 
compositions again appear in view, they adopted 
almost -every conceit, provided it were sufficiently 
extravagant and ridiculous, that ever crossed the 
brain of a mad-man."^ 

In regard to the Talmuds, they are no better au- 
thority in the case, than the Targums. They are 
assigned to no earlier a period than the second cen- 
tury. There are two of these works, the Jerusalem 
Talmud and the Babylonish. " The former was 
completed about the year of our Lord three hundred ; 
and the latter was published about two hundred 
years after, in the beginning of the sixth century."t 
So far as the apocryphal books of the Old Testa- 
ment are concerned, the term Gehenna is not to be 

# Universalist Expos,, Vol. 2., p. 366. 
fPrideaux's Connexions, Vol. 1, p. 269. Home's Intro., 
Vol. 2, p. 296—297. 

18 



206 tjniversalist's assistant. 

found in them, notwithstanding they have so often 
been appealed to as affording testimony in the 
case.^ 

Thus it will be seen, that there is an entire ab- 
sence of decided and unequivocal testimony, aside 
from the New Testament, to show that Gehenna, 
in the times of our Saviour, was the name of a 
place of endless punishment. The case may be 
stated in this way. Before his day, the Old Testa- 
ment was written in Hebrew, where the word had 
its origin. The Septuagint translation of the Old 
Testament was made some two hundred years be- 
fore his birth, where the word is found, with some 
variation of spelling. In both of these works 
Gehenna is never used as the name of a place of 
punishment in the future world. Cotemporary, or 
nearly so, with Jesus and his apostles, was Philo 
Judseus, in whose writings, now extant, the word is 
not to be found. Immediately after Christ, Josephus 
composed his works ; and although he treats par- 

* I hardly know how to explain this circumstance ; for the 
statement has been made by men who had both the learn- 
ing and the means of knowing better. One thing is certain, 
and that is, that such men have no apology that can justify 
such a misstatement to common readers, who have not the 
means of detecting it. In the Apocrypha the word hell oc- 
curs in the following places, and is a rendering of Hades, 
instead of Gehenna, as T can testify from a personal exami- 
nation. Tobit, 13 : 2 ; Wisdom, 16 : 13 ; 17 : 14 ; (13 of the 
Sep. Eccles. 21 : 10 ; 51 :5,6- Dan. 3 : 66. It occurs also 
in 2 Esd. 2 : 29 ; 4 : 9 ; 8 : 53 ; but as this book exists only 
in the Latin, it is no authority in the case. 



THE WORD GEHENNA. 207 

ticularly of the different sects among the Jews, and 
gives a very full description of their doctrines, he 
never used the term. Now had Gehenna, in his 
time, been used by the Jews as the name of the 
place of endless punishment, in which the Pharisees 
believed, is it supposable, that he would not have 
used it, in describing their opinions ? 

Beside all this, the ideas of the Jews, as exhibited 
in the writings of the Apocrypha, Philo and Jose- 
phus, in reference to punishment, were such that 
they could not have used Gehenna as the name of 
the place in which it was to be inflicted, in the 
future world. " If we misjudge not, both the Apoc- 
rypha, and the works of Philo, when compared to- 
gether, afford circumstantial evidence that the word 
cannot have been currently employed, during their 
age, to denote a place of future torment. . . . From 
the few traces which remain to us of this age, it 
seems that the idea of future punishment, such as it 
was among the Jews, was associated with that of 
darkness, and not of fire ; and that among those of 
Palestine, the misery of the wicked was supposed to 
consist rather in privation, than in positive inflic- 
tion. . . . But we cannot discover, in Josephus, 
that either of these sects," the Pharisees or the Es- 
senes, both of which believed the doctrine of endless 
misery, " supposed it to be a state of fire, or that the 
Jews ever alluded to it by that emblem. In addi- 
tion, therefore, to the absence of all proof that they 



208 universalist's assistant. 

had as yet named it Gehenna, we find their notions 
of it to have been such as would not comport with 
the term, in its later usage." 1 * 

Such are the facts in the case, and how they can 
be reconciled with the position, that Gehenna, in our 
Saviour's day, had come to signify a place of punish- 
ment, in the world of spirits, I cannot see. They 
present the strongest kind of negative proof that the 
word then had attained no such signification. At 
any rate, no direct evidence has yet been adduced, 
and I believe none can be, aside from the New 
Testament, of its ever being used in such a sense 
at that time. This is fai J to the a 'priori argu- 
ment, that it bears this meaning in the New Testa- 
ment, and throws the whole matter upon the New 
Testament itself. 



SECTION II. THE DERIVATION OF GEHENNA. 

" It is originally a compound of the two Hebrew 
words ge hinnorn^ the valley of Hinnom, a place 
near Jerusalem, of which we hear first in the book of 
Joshua. X It was there that the cruel sacrifices of chil- 
dren were made by fire to Moloch, the Ammonitish 
idol.§ The place was also called Tophet,!! and that, 

* Univ. Expos., Vol. 2, pp. 361—366. f Ml h 3 

% Josh. 15 : 8 ; 18 : 6. § 2 Chron. 33 : 6. || 2 Kings 23 ; 10. 



THE WORD GEHENNA. 209 

as is supposed, from the noise of drums, (Toph 
signifies a drum,) a noise raised on purpose to 
drown the cries of the helpless infants."^ 

"The word Gehenna is derived, as all agree, 
from the Hebrew words ge hinnom ; which, in pro- 
cess of time, passing into other languages, assumed 
diverse forms; e. g. Chaldee Gehennom, Arabic 
Gahannam, Greek Gehenna. The valley of Hin- 
nom is a part of the pleasant wadi or valley, which 
bounds Jerusalem on the south. t Here, in ancient 
times, and under some of the idolatrous kings, the 
worship of Moloch, the horrid idol-god of the Am- 
monites, was practised. To this idol, children were 
offered in sacrifice. % If we may credit the Rab- 
bins, the head of the idol was like that of an ox ; 
while the rest of the body resembled that of a man. 
It was hollow within ; and being heated by fire, 
children were laid in its arms and were literally 
roasted alive. We cannot wonder, then, at the se- 
vere terms in which the worship of Moloch is every- 
where denounced in the Scriptures. Nor can we 
wonder that the place itself should have been called 
Tophet, i. e. abomination, detestation, (from toph, to 
vomit with loathing. ,)§ 

" After these sacrifices had ceased, the place was 

* Campbell's Four Gospels, Diss. 6, Pt. 2, § 1. 
fJosh. 15: 8: 18: 6. 

X 2 Kings 23 : 10 j Ezek. 23 : 37 ; 39 ; 2 Chron. 28 : 3 ; Lev. 
18: 21 ; 20: 2. 
§ Jer. 31 : 32 ; 19 : 6 ; 2 Kings 23 : 10 ; Ezek. 23 : 37, 39. 

IS* 



210 universalist's assistant. 

desecrated, and made one of loathing and horror. 
The pious king Josiah caused it to be polluted, i. e. 
he caused to be carried there the filth of the city of 
Jerusalem. It would seem that the custom of dese- 
crating this place, thus happily begun, was con- 
tinued in after ages, down to the period when our 
Saviour was on earth. Perpetual fires were kept 
up, in order to consume the offal which was depos- 
ited there. And as the same offal would breed 
worms, (for so all putrefying meat does of course,) 
hence came the expression, * Where the worm dietb 
not, and the fire is not quenched.'^ 

" Gehenna, originally a Hebrew word, which 
signifies the valley of Hinnom, is composed of the 
common noun, Gee, valley, and the proper name 
Hinnom, the owner of this valley. The valley of 
the sons of Hinnom was a delightful vale, planted 
with trees, watered by fountains, and lying near 
Jerusalem on the south-east, by the brook Kidron. 
Here the Jews placed that brazen image of Moloch, 
which had the face of a calf, and extended its hands 
as those of a man. It is said, on the authority of the 
ancient Eabbins, that, to this image, the idolatrous 
Jews were wont not only to sacrifice doves, pigeons, 
lambs, rams, calves and bulls, but even to offer their 
children.! In the prophecy of Jeremiah, t this val- 
ley is called Tophet, from Toph, a drum ; because 

* Stuart's Exegetical Ess., p. 140—141. 

f 1 Kings 9 : 7 ; 2 Kings 15 : 3, 4. $ Ch. 7 : 31. 



THE WORD GEHENNA. 211 

the administrators in these horrible rites, beat drums, 
lest the cries and shrieks of the infants who were 
burned, should be heard by the assembly. At 
length, these nefarious practices were abolished by 
Josiah, and the Jews brought back to the pure wor- 
ship of God.^ After this, they held the place in 
such abomination, it is said, that they cast into it all 
kinds of filth, together with the carcasses of beasts, 
and the unburied bodies of criminals who had been 
executed. Continual fires were necessary, in order 
to consume these, lest the putrefaction should infect 
the air ; and there were always worms feeding on 
the remaining relics. Hence it came, that any se- 
vere punishment especially a shameful kind of death, 
was denominated Gehenna."! 

Such is the undisputed derivation of this word, 
and such its literal meaning. And even Prof. Stu- 
art admits, that " the word Gehenna, when used in 
respect to a place of punishment, may be used, or 
might have been used, literally." And the ques- 
tion now is, " whether it is employed in its literal" 
or in a "secondary and spiritual sense, in the 
New Testament."^ That it is generally used in a 
literal sense in the New Testament, I suppose no 
one will pretend. It will doubtless be admitted, on 



* 2 Kings 23: 10. 

f Schleusneri Lexicon in Nov. Test, sub voce riewa, as 
quoted in the Univ. Expos., Vol. 2, pp. 354 — 355. 
t 1 Exeget. Ess., p. 141. 



212 universalist's assistant. 

all hands, at the present day, that it is there used 
generally in a figurative sense. It is a figure of 
something. This is clear from the whole history 
of the word. If it refers to future punishment, it is 
not the name of the place where it is to be inflicted, 
but only a figure to represent it. This being the 
case, whether it means any such thing, in any par- 
ticular place, must be determined, not by the force 
and meaning of the word itself, but by the connex- 
ion in which it is found, or the subject to which it 
is applied. So much being admitted, it is, in effect, 
giving up the word as affording any evidence, of 
itself, of the truth of the doctrine of endless misery, 
or even of future punishment, however it may be 
in regard to some of the* texts where it occurs. 
Whether it ever refers to any such punishment in 
the New Testament, can be determined only by an 
actual examination of all the places where it occurs. 
If it is used as a figurative representation, the ques- 
tion is — Of what is it a figure ? I think it was 
used by the writers of the New Testament, as a 
figure of punishment in general, particularly any 
peculiarly severe or odious punishment, without 
any reference to the place where inflicted, or its 
duration ; and sometimes for anything peculiarly 
odious and detestable. That such is its meaning, 
will appear from an examination of the several 
texts where it occurs in the New Testament. 



THE WORD GEHENNA. 2lS 



SECTION HI. NEW TESTAMENT USAGE OF THE TERM 

GEHENNA. 

In the examination of the texts which will come 
under consideration, I shall offer but little on the 
negative side of the question ; that is, to show the 
word gehenna does not mean a place of endless 
punishment. This has been done very fully and 
thoroughly by others.^ It will be my effort, rather to 
show what the texts really mean, which is the most 
important matter ; and if this is truly represented, 
those interpretations which make them teach the 
doctrine of endless punishment, must of necessity 
be false. My work, therefore, will be constructive, 
rather than destructive; affirmative rather than 
negative. In the execution* of this work, I shall 
not go into any lengthy arguments to sustain the 
explanations that may be given. I shall aim to 
state my views of the texts that may come under 
review, as concisely as possible, without going at 
length into the reasons therefor. I pursue this 
course because I think it will convey a clearer and 
more distinct conception of the meaning of the texts, 
to the minds of most readers, and be quite as satis- 
factory as a more elaborate method. I shall refer 

* See particularly Balfour's First Inquiry, which pre- 
sents about all that can be said on the negative side of this 
question. 



214 universalist's assistant. 

to such authorities as may be at hand, in confirma- 
tion of my positions, so as to enable those who may 
be disposed, to pursue the inquiry still farther. 

The word Gehenna occurs in the New Testament 
just twelve times. Five^ of these are parallel with 
other texts, which reduces the instances of its use to 
seven in number. These will now be examined in 
the chronological order in which they were uttered, 
according to the Harmony of the Gospels by Dr. 
L. Carpenter. 

1. Matt. 5 : 22. "But I say unto you, that whosoever is 
angry with his brother, without a cause, shall be in danger 
of the judgment ; and whosoever shall say to his brother 
Raca, shall be in danger of the council ; but whosoever 
shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell-Jtre."f 

Upon the word Gehenna, in this text, Mr. Barnes 
says, — " In this verse it denotes a degree of suffer- 
ing higher than the punishment inflicted by the 
court of seven, or the sanhedrim. And the whole 
verse may therefore mean, He that hates his brother 
without a cause, is guilty of a violation of the sixth 
commandment, and shall be punished with a sever- 
ity similar to that inflicted by the court of judg- 
ment. He that shall suffer his passions to trans- 

* Matt. 5 : 30. Mark 9 : 43 and 45. Luke 12 : 5. Matt. 
18: 9. 

f evo/og sotcci tig xi t v ytirvav rov 7rf£><;£, shall be obnoxious 
to the gehenna of fire. — Campbell's note in loco. " To be in 
danger of evil of auy kind, is one thing ; to be obnoxious to 
it, is another. The most innocent person may be in danger 
of death, it is the guilty only who are obnoxious to it." 



THE WORD GEHENNA. 215 

port him to still greater extravagances, and shall 
make him an object of derision and contempt, shall 
be exposed to still severer punishment, correspond- 
ing to that which the sanhedrim, or council, inflicts. 
But he who shall load his brother with odious ap- 
pellations and abusive language, shall incur the 
severest degree of punishment, represented by being 
burnt alive in the horrid and awful valley of Hin* 
nom."^ 

" Three degrees of anger are specified, and three 
corresponding gradations of punishment, propor- 
tioned to the different degrees of guilt. Where 
these punishments will be inflicted, he does not say, 
he need not say. The man, who indulges any 
wicked feelings against his brother man, is in this 
world punished ; his anger is the torture of his soul, 
and unless he repents of it and forsakes it, it must 
prove his woe in all future states of his being."! 

The antithesis, in this passage, lies between the 
material views of the Jews, who regarded men's 
overt acts of wrong, only as subjecting them to the 



* Note in loco. 

t Livermore's Com. in loco ; also Dr. A. Clarke, Bloom- 
field, Kenrick and Paige in loco. Dr. Clarke, Kenrick and 
Paige seem to regard the whole in a strictly literal sense, 
rather than figurative ; while Bloomfield, Barnes and Liver- 
more seem to think the council, sanhedrim and gehenna 
mere figures ; Mr. B. and Dr. Bloomfield of future pun- 
ishment only, and Mr. Livermore of punishment in general,, 
without any reference to the place where inflicted, or the time 
when, or its duration. 



216 universalist's assistant. 

retributions of the Almighty, and the more spiritual 
views of Jesus, who maintained that the thoughts, 
feelings, desires and purposes of the individual, 
though never carried out in action, exposed him 
equally to punishment, with overt acts.^ And in 
my view, he did not refer to these several kinds of 
death inflicted by the Jews, as the penalties to be 
suffered for these sins ; or to these tribunals as tak- 
ing cognizance of these offences. They are referred 
to only as an illustration of the principle upon 
which God would deal with men for their evil and 
malicious thoughts, feelings, desires and purposes. 
What he means to say is, that according to his 
religion, punishment would be inflicted upon men 
for these things, as well as for their overt acts ; and 
that, as in these, it would be severe, in proportion 
to their malignity, and the evil they were calculated 
to produce.! 

2. Matt. 5 : 29—30. "And if thy right eye offend}: thee, 
pluck it out and cast it from thee ; for it is profitable for 
thee, that one of thy members should perish, and not that 
thy whole body should be cast into hell.§ And if thy right 
hand offend}: thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee, for 
it is profitable for thee, that one of thy members should 
perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell"§ 

* Matt. 5 : 28 ; 15 : 19. f Univ. Miscel., vol. 2, p. 184—6. 

% " We have no single word to express the import of 
oxavdaXiLU), which is peculiar to ecclesiastical Greek. It 
denotes to cause to fall, either from duty or allegiance. 
The noun oxavda/.ov, denotes the cause of sin or desertion, 
— a stumbling-block. Dr. L. Carpenter's Note in loco. 

§ xal /ntj oXov to ouyiu gov (ikrj-frrj tig yctvvav, and not thy 
whole body should be thrust into gehenna. 



THE WORD GEHENNA. 217 

The duty enjoined in this text is ; " Deny thyself 
what is even the most desirable and alluring, and 
seems the most necessary, when the sacrifice is 
demanded by the good of thy soul. Some think 
that there is an allusion to the amputation of dis- 
eased members of the body, to prevent the spread 
of any disorder."^ This, I apprehend, is the true 
idea. When a mortal disease seizes upon some 
one of the limbs, it becomes necessary to have that 
limb removed, to prevent the infection from spread- 
ing through the whole body, and filling it with dis- 
ease and torture, and ultimately reducing it to a 
mass of loathsome corruption ; so when any evil 
passion springs up in the soul, and is leading the 
individual into sin, he must expel it from him, or, 
like a plague, it will spread through his whole moral 
constitution, filling it with disease, putrefaction and 
torment, and making it as odious and abominable, 
as the valley of Hinnom, — a fate as dreadful, in a 
moral point of view, as to suffer capital punishment, 
by being burned alive in this loathsome and detest- 
able place ; or being executed, and then having the 
body thrown into this receptacle of filth, to putrefy 
and be consumed by the fire and worms with the 
rest of the offal of the city. 

Hence it is said, — " As it would be better to lose 
a limb, than to have the whole body become diseased 

* Bloomfield's Note in loco. 
19 



218 universalist's assistant. 

and putrid, and finally cast into the valley of Hin- 
nom, the place of abomination, — the deepest disgrace 
of which a Jew could conceive, — so it would be 
better to crush and destroy any passion, however 
painful the struggle, than to have the whole moral 
system become infected, and to incur the disgrace 
and punishment which might well be called the 
worm and fire of Gehenna"* 

" The main idea here conveyed, is that of punish- 
ment, extreme suffering, and no intimation is given 
as to its place, or its duration, whatever may be 
said in other texts in relation to these points. 
Wickedness is its own hell. A wronged conscience, 
awakened to remorse, is more terrible than fire or 
worm. In this life and in the next, sin and woe 
are forever coupled together. God has joined them, 
and man cannot put them asunder."! 

3. Matt. 10: 28 "Bat fear not them which kill the 
body, but are not able to kill the soul ; but rather fear him 
which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."% Luke 
12 : 4, 5. 

The most natural construction of this text seems 
to be this, — Be not afraid of men, who, when they 
exert their utmost power, can only kill the body, 
but cannot touch the soul. They may destroy the 
natural life, the temporary dwelling-place of the 
soul ; but this is a small matter. It will not inter- 



* Paige's Com. in loco. f Livermore's Com. in Iocq. 

% Iv yefavv, in Gehenna. 



THE WORD GEHENNA. 



219 



nipt the bliss of the soul. Not even this can be 
affected without your consent ; much less its exist- 
ence. Both are beyond their reach. They may 
destroy the body by the punishments inflicted in 
that loathsome and abhorred place, called Gehenna ; 
but this will do you no harm as moral beings. 
Therefore, be not afraid of them, seeing they can 
do so little, even when they do their worst. But I 
tell you rather to fear God, who has far greater 
power ; who is able utterly to annihilate both body 
and soul, your whole being, in some manner equally 
horrible with having your body consumed in the 
valley of Hinnom. 

It appears to me, that the point of contrast be- 
tween men and God, is in reference to their power. 
The power of men can accomplish but little, even 
when exerted to its utmost. It can reach only to 
the temporary dwelling-place of the soul, which 
must, sooner or later, fall to decay, if left to the 
operation of natural laws. But God's power is so 
great, that he can not only do what men may per- 
form, but much more. While men can destroy the 
habitation only, God can destroy both the habitation 
and the inhabitant , without implying that either 
will be done. It is a simple contrast of the abilities 
of the parties. 

This view seems to be confirmed by the circum- 
stances of the case. Jesus was giving his disciples 
directions concerning the promulgation of his reli- 



220 universalist's assistant. 

gion. He and they knew, that, in the prosecution 
of this work, they should not only suffer all man- 
ner of privations, but be exposed to physical death 
by the hands of their fellow-men, on account of their 
labors and efforts. And it is his object to guard 
their minds against such a fear of men, as would 
lead them to swerve from duty, clothed in as much 
power as they might be, by contrasting their highest 
power with that of God. It is a mere contrasting 
of the ability of God and men, not their dispositions, 
or what they will actually do. It is saying to 
them, that if there was reason to fear men on 
account of their power, they had much greater rea- 
son to fear God — as much greater reason as his 
power is greater than theirs; that if they felt any 
shrinking from the performance of their duties, for 
fear of the evils men could bring upon their bodies, 
they should remember that God, who will in no 
wise clear the guilty, is able to do far more — to 
destroy or annihilate the soul as well as the body — 
not implying, by any means, that God would anni- 
hilate their whole being, even should they prove 
recreant to their trust, through fear of men. It 
affirms nothing as to what would be their punish- 
ment in such an event; but simply implies that 
they would render themselves obnoxious to a pun- 
ishment proportionate to their guilt. 

That Gehenna, in this text, cannot mean a place 
of punishment in another world, is manifest from 



THE WORD GEHENNA. 



221 



the fact, that the exhortation is addressed particu- 
larly to the disciples, who, if the common views are 
correct, were in no sort of danger of such a punish- 
ment. And even if it did refer to such a place, it 
would afford no evidence in favor of the doctrine 
of eternal punishment ; for it says not a word about 
their being punished there; but that their whole 
being may be destroyed in that place. Upon this 
supposition, it proves annihilation, if it proves any- 
thing.^ 

" That it was the design of Christ, to lead 
his disciples to reverence the surpassing power of 
God, which he thus illustrated, and not to make 
them fear an actual destruction of their souls and 
bodies in Gehenna, seems evident from the words 
that immediately follow. For he proceeds to show 
them that that power was constantly exerted in 
their behalf — not against them. See the following 
verses. "t 

# I am aware, that the idea commonly attached to the 
words kill and destroy in this text, is to torture or torment. 
But this is an idea which is no more naturally expressed by 
the original words anoxrsivw, rendered to kill, in the first 
clause, and anoXXvpt, translated to destroy, in the last clause, 
than it is by these English words. To torture or torment is 
by no means the usual signification of these words ; and I 
doubt whether they ever occur in this unusual sense in the 
New Testament, though they are of very frequent occur- 
rence ; arroxTeivw occurring in seventy-five instances, and 
anollv^u, in eighty- five cases. Univ. Expos., Vol. 4, pp. 
166, 167. Mr. Donnegan defines anoUv^i, primarily, "to 
destroy utterly. 1 '' 

t Univ. Expos., Vol. 4, p. 169. Paige's Com. in loco. 
19* 



222 

4. Matt. 18 : 8, 9. "Wherefore, if thy hand or thy foot 
offend* thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee ; it is 
better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than 
having two hands or two feet, to be cast into everlasting 
fire.f And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it 
from thee ; it is better for thee to enter into life with one 
eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire." % 

The parallel passage in Mark is recorded in 
phraseology somewhat different ; and as both evi- 
dently mean the same thing, and are used to repre- 
sent the same conversation of our Lord, they will 
naturally aid in explaining the peculiar phraseology 
of each. I will, therefore, quote this passage, that 
the reader may have both before him at once. 

Mark 9 : 43—48. " And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off; 
it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than to have 
two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be 
quenched,^ where their worm dieth not, and their fire is not 
quenched.\\ And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off; it is better 
for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet, to be 
cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched ;§ where 
their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.\\ And if 
thine eye offend thee, pluck it out ; it is better for thee to 
enter into the kingdom of God, with one eye, than having 
two eyes, to be cast into hell -fir e ;^ where their worm dieth 
not, and their fire is not quenched. 1 \\ 

The general sentiment of these texts is the same 
as in one before noticed ; but they are distin- 

* See note on page 216, of this work. 
t *U to TtvQ to aitoviov, into the fire the everlasting. 
% dg ri t v ytivvav rov nvgog, into the Gehenna of fire. 
§ stg rr t v ythvav, tig to ttvq to aofteorov, into the Gehenna, 
into the fire unquenchable. 

|| xal to nvq ov ofevvvTai, and the fire not to be extinguished. 
If tig Ttjv yeewav rov nvQog, into the Gehenna of fire. 



THE WORD GEHENNA. 223 

guished by somewhat peculiar phraseology, espe- 
cially this last. Still the whole of it is derived 
from what was literally true of the valley of Hin- 
nom, after its desecration. Perpetual fires were 
kept there, arid it swarmed with worms as we have 
seen.^ This fire is called everlasting, not because 
it is absolutely endless in duration ; but to represent 
its uninterrupted character. For the word ren- 
dered everlasting, as we have seen,t has more the 
sense of uninterrupted, than of endless duration ; a 
duration in which there is no break or interruption 
so long as it lasts, be that longer or shorter. This 
was the character of the fire in Gehenna. It was 
continual and uninterrupted, in consequence of the 
constantly renewed supply of fuel to feed it, until, 
from the want of this supply, it became extinct. 

Although the imagery of the last quoted text is 
much more terrific than in the first, this very im- 
agery only serves to confirm the view above pre- 
sented. The fire is here called unquenchable, with 
particular allusion to what the prophet says ;t and 
there are said to be undying worms there. It was 
a fire that burned continually, and a place that con- 
tinually swarmed with worms, and would do so as 
long as the place maintained its characteristics as 
then known. This view is confirmed by the use 

* See page 210, of this work, f See p. 152, of this work. 
% Isaiah 46 : 24, from which these peculiar forms of ex- 
pression are taken almost literally. 



224 universalist's assistant. 

of the word rendered unquenchable, by the prophet, 
alluded to above, and the common usage of it by- 
other writers. Josephus uses it in describing the 
fire upon the altar in the temple of Jerusalem, and 
so of others.^ These facts are added only to pre- 
sent a stronger and more lively image of the loath- 
some and abhorrent character of that place ; and what 
can be more so, than that of fomenting filth, filled 
with worms, in which fire is smouldering and fill- 
ing the air with its horrid and intolerable stench ? 
But these worms have ceased to exist, and this fire 
has been long since extinguished. 

Thus much for the literal meaning of this text. 
But are we to take this text in a literal sense? 
Will any one maintain, that our Lord meant to con- 
trast the life his gospel is calculated to impart, and 
the kingdom he came to establish, with the literal 
horrors of the valley of Hinnom? I think not. 
Every one, it appears to me, must see, the horrors of 
this place are used only as figures ; and the ques- 
tion at once arises — Figures of what ? I answer — 
Figures of the consequences of sin, of neglect of 
duty, of violation of God's law. And these figures 
are not used so much to represent the duration of 
punishment, as to indicate its intensity, and its un- 
interrupted, unmitigated, continuous character, so 
long as it lasts, which must be as long as its cause 

*Univ. Expos., Vol. 4, pp. 106, 107, where a number of 
examples are quoted from different authors. 



THE WORD GEHENNA. 225 

continues ; i. e. sin in the soul. How long this will 
continue, in any individual case, is a matter which 
cannot be determined, until it shall have transpired, 
as we have already shown. ^ Where this fearful 
punishment will be inflicted, no intimation is given, 
as none is needed ; for wherever sin exists, there it 
will be punished ; because sin and its misery are in- 
separably united, and the latter will adhere to 
every soul so long as the former. When the one 
ceases, then will the other also.t 

5. Matt. 23 : 15. " Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, 
hypocrites ! for ye compass sea and land to make one pros- 
elyte ; and when he is made, ye make him two-fold more 
the child of hell, % than yourselves. 7 ' 

The word translated child, would be more literally 
rendered son ; and it is used to express a great va- 
riety of relations. In this place it means like, or in 
resemblance of.§ The scribes and Pharisees were 
abominably wicked, malicious and persecuting. So 
vile and polluted, yet so hypocritical, were they, as 
to be compared to whited sepulchres. They w T ere 
so full of all that was corrupt and odious, as to be 
the objects of loathing and abhorrence to every pure 
and good mind acquainted with their real characters. 
They had a sufficiently strong resemblance to that 

* See pp. 129—133 of this work. 

f Those who may wish for a more minute and particular 
exposition of this text, are referred to Paige's Com. in loco. 
J vlbv ystwrjg, a son of Gehenna. 
§ Universalist Expositor, Vol. I., pp. 312 — 316. 



226 UNIVERSALIST's ASSISTANT. 

most odious and abominable of all places, the valley 
of Hinnom ; but their proselytes were twice as bad, 
— vastly more wicked, odious, abominable, mali- 
cious and persecuting, than they were themselves ; 
they bore a more exact resemblance to Gehenna, 
than the scribes and Pharisees did themselves. 

Hence it is said, — " It was the complaint of the 
Jewish nation, that the proselytes were ' scabs of 
the church,' and hindered the coming of the Mes- 
siah, as being ignorant of the law, and bringing in 
revenge. Justin Martyr informs us of them, that 
these ' proselytes did not only disbelieve Christ's 
doctrine, but were twice more blasphemous against 
him than the Jews themselves, endeavoring to tor- 
ment and cut them off wheresoever they could, they 
being in this the instruments of the scribes and 
Pharisees. "^ 

6. Matt. 23 : 33. " Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, 
how can ye escape the damnation of hellP\ 

The word rendered damnation, in this text, would 
be more properly translated condemnation or punish- 
ment. X The meaning of this text is, — How can ye 
escape from a punishment as dreadful as that of be- 
ing burned alive in that most execrable of all places, 
the valley of Hinnom ; or how can you escape from, 

* Whitby, Com. and Note, in loco. 

If an 6 rijg xQiosoyg rijg ysfir^c, from the punishment of Ge- 
henna. 

X Campbell's Notes on Mark 12 : 40 ; 16: 16; Matt. 23: 
23 : John 5 : 22. 



THE WORD GEHENNA. 227 

or avoid the most dreadful punishment God sees fit 
to inflict upon men ; the language denoting, not the 
duration, but the intensity and severity of the 
punishment. Hence it is said, — " Gehenna, or the 
valley of Hinnom, near Jerusalem, where the filth 
of the city and the bodies of malefactors were 
thrown, to be consumed by fire and worms. Hence 
it was used as a figure for a keen and terrible punish- 
ment."^ " The damnation of hell, or of Gehenna ; 
which place the Jews understood to indicate the 
most acute misery, "t This text, I apprehend, is to 
be taken for punishment in general, without par- 
ticular reference to the kind, or when or where 
inflicted, or how long it is to endure. This is as 
indefinite and uncertain as the duration of any indi- 
vidual soul in sin.t 

7. James 3:6. " And the tongue is a fire, a world of 
iniquity ; so is the tongue among our members, that it de- 
fileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of 
nature ; and it is set on fire of hell.^% 

The last clause of this text, is manifestly figur- 
ative ; for no man, in his senses, will maintain, that 
an unruly, or ungoverned tongue, is literally set on 

# Livermore's Com. in loco. 

t Paige's Com. in loco, where a somewhat different view 
of the matter is taken. This respected author thinks the 
punishment is to be understood as specific, rather than 
general. 

% xal (fXoyito^ivr\ vnb rtjg ysiwriq, and being inflamed of the 
Gehenna. 



228 universalist's assistant. 

fire from hell, if this word is taken in its common 
acceptation. It being a figure, the question very 
naturally arises — From what is it drawn? From 
Gehenna taken in its literal sense, or from a place 
which it is supposed to represent as a symbol? 
From a place well known and most deeply abhorred 
by those to whom the language was addressed, or a 
place which was a mere ideal thing, about the very 
existence of which there was dispute among them ? 
It certainly seems quite unnecessary, to say the least, 
to resort to this sort of compound figure, to express 
an idea, which would be more forcibly expressed by 
a simple figure, and adopting the term Gehenna in 
its literal sense ; for this would give it all the force 
it could possibly have. 

The simple meaning, therefore, of this text, I take 
to be, that an unruly or ungoverned tongue, not 
only defiles and pollutes the whole man, in whom it 
resides, and blackens everybody about him, by its 
lies and slanders, but inflames society, and is calcu- 
lated to make it as uncomfortable to its members, 
and as loathsome and abhorrent to all good and 
peace-loving persons, as the filth and smoke of the 
valley of Hinnom were to the eyes and nostrils of 
those who might enter it ; and that the principles 
and passions which move such a tongue, are as vile 
and polluted, and odious and offensive in the eyes 



THE WORD GEHENNA. 229 

of the pure and good, as was this valley to the mind 
of a Jew.^ 

These are all the instances where the word 
Gehenna occurs in the New Testament, and such 
are my views of their meaning, which are com- 
mended to the serious attention of every reader. 
Of their correctness he is left to judge, with a full 
assurance that they must commend themselves to 
his reason and common sense. 

* See Whitby in loco, and Balfour's First Inquiry, p. 194. 
20 



230 



CHAPTER VIII. 

GENERAL CONCLUSION. 

In view of what has been presented in this 
volume, it must be manifest to all intelligent and 
reflecting minds, that the objections commonly 
urged against Universalism, are either without 
foundation, or utterly inapposite. It must be equal- 
ly plain, that the objections urged against this 
doctrine, from the Scriptures, are, to say the least, 
very far from being conclusive in the case. Indeed, 
I cannot see how any person, with the facts herein 
presented before him, can regard the testimony 
commonly adduced, in favor of the doctrine of end- 
less misery, from the Bible, as sufficient to warrant 
the belief of so tremendous a doctrine. I think all 
candid and fair-minded men must concede, that if 
this fearful doctrine is true, some other and more 
decisive testimony must be adduced, so far as the 
Scriptures are concerned, than that which has been 
commonly relied upon, for this purpose. 

In attaining the position at which I have arrived 
in this volume, I am aware, that the way is only 
fairly cleared and well laid open for the introduc- 
tion of affirmative testimony, in behalf of Universal- 



GENERAL CONCLUSION. 231 

ism. No direct evidence has been produced in behalf 
of this idea, in what has been said. This was not 
the design. Its aim has been merely defensive ; to 
remove objections, that the mind of the reader 
might be prepared, fully to appreciate and feel the 
force of the arguments of others of an affirmative 
character. Still, the position that has been attain- 
ed, is, of itself, a presumption in favor of the truth 
of the doctrine of universal salvation. If the doc- 
trine of the " absolute eternity " of punishment is 
not true, as we have a right to assume, if the evi- 
dence in its favor is inconclusive, then only one 
of two things can be true, either annihilation or 
universal salvation. And if the universality and 
eternity of human existence is admitted, then uni- 
versal salvation must be the truth; for nothing else 
can possibly be the case, unless it can be supposed, 
that the human soul may be in a state and condition, 
where it neither enjoys happiness nor suffers misery. 
This, I suppose, no one will maintain. 

Still, I am aware, that there is a very serious 
difficulty, in the way of many persons coming to 
view the matter in the light presented in this vol- 
ume, from the common apprehensions about the 
Scripture representations of rewards and punish- 
ments. It has been the practice so long, to regard 
the Bible as speaking in one place, exclusively of 
rewards and punishments in this state, and in 
another as speaking only of future rewards and 



232 universalist's assistant. 

punishments, that it is exceedingly difficult to bring 
their minds to right apprehensions upon the subject, 
plainly as it is exhibited upon the very face of the 
Scriptures; for nothing is more difficult than to 
break up old associations, when attached for a long 
time to particular words and phrases. 

But I apprehend, however numerous the passages 
of Scripture, in which the idea of future rewards and 
punishments is involved, it will be very difficult to 
fix upon any one text, and show, by fair argument, 
that it is exclusively confined to this meaning. And 
the same may be said, if they are attempted to be 
restricted to this state; for what is true of one state, 
in regard to the cause of punishment, is true of the 
other also. 

The truth is, the Bible makes no such distinction 
between present and future rewards and punish- 
ments, as is commonly supposed. It does not here 
describe a reward to be bestowed, or a punishment 
to be inflicted in this life only ; and there, those t3 
be enjoyed or suffered exclusively in a future state. 
It lays down the great principle, that virtue and its 
rewards, and vice and its punishment, are insepara- 
bly united ; that this is a law of God's moral 
government, as eternal and immutable as that gov- 
ernment itself. Both the bliss of the righteous and 
the misery of the wicked, begin in this world, and 
are as truly enjoyed and suffered in this, as they 
can be in any world. Whether the bliss of the 



GENERAL CONCLUSION. 233 

one, or the misery of the other, extends beyond this 
life, must depend entirely upon the circumstance, 
whether they will continue to sustain their respect- 
ive characters in that world. If those who are bad 
here, continue to be bad there, they must continue 
to suffer the miserable consequences of their wick- 
edness, which attached to them here ; and if those 
who are good in this world, continue to be good in 
the world to come, they will continue to enjoy the 
reward of their goodness there as here. The only 
difference between the two states will be, that the 
miseries of the bad, and the enjoyments of the good, 
must be immensely greater in degree, in that world, 
than in this, from the very nature of the case. 
They are the same in kind, though different in 
degree. 

Hence the whole controversy between the believer 
in the doctrine of endless punishment, and the Uni- 
versalist, turns upon the single point, whether human 
character is immutably, unalterably and eternally 
fixed in the world to come. This is really the 
whole matter in controversy, between these two 
classes of religionists. To make out the " absolute 
eternity" of punishment, it must be proved, that 
human character is or will become immutably fixed ; 
and all that the application of any particular terms 
signifying duration, to punishment can do, is to af- 
ford a reflected argument in favor of this idea. 
20* 



234 universalist's assistant. 

Thus it will be seen, that this controversy may 
be brought within a very narrow compass — reduced 
to a very simple and intelligible proposition. Let 
all the efforts of the antagonists of Universalism be 
directed to this single point, and the matter would 
be rendered more intelligible to common minds, and 
bring it more clearly and distinctly before them, 
and place the matter more entirely within their' 
grasp. Will they do this ? We shall see. In the 
mean time, I may remark, that if this point cannot 
be sustained, Universalism must be regarded as 
established beyond all controversy. 

TO TEJ02. 



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